The Only Thing Different
by NatesMama
Summary: Based on Season 6 SPOILERS. How much did the time away really change Booth and Brennan? Did anything change at all? Collaborative effort with  brainysmrf.
1. Chapter 1

This is a collaborative effort with the endlessly talented brainysmrfs. Please go check out her catalogue of stories, her ID on this site is: 1683675.

'Based on Season 6 Spoilers. How much did the time away really change Booth and Brennan? Did anything change at all?'

Butch and Sundance...Cagney and Lacey...Thelma and Louise...Ren and Stimpy...all those famous duets had to start somewhere, and this is where ours begins.

We originally started this as a response to Seeleybaby's Sweet Disposition challenge, but found ourselves going way off the tracks with no brake handle in sight.

This isn't going to be a long, drawn-out story...in fact, we already have every chapter planned out and half-written. Things might get a little bumpy, but don't worry.

Stick with us, everything happens eventually.

**This story contains spoilers for Season Six, so proceed with caution! You've been warned!**

Oh I just don't know where to begin

Though he says he'll wait forever

It's now or never

But she keeps him hanging on

~Elvis Costello, Accidents Will Happen

Brennan took her seat in the vast lecture hall and directed her attention to the front of the room. She was there at the behest of her editor to hear what could be the publishing house's latest author speak on her experiences as an imbedded reporter in war-torn Afghanistan, and Brennan found herself looking forward to hearing firsthand accounts of the conditions she knew her partner had been living in for the previous seven months. She was loathe to ask Booth about his assignment because she knew how affected he was by the realities of war, so to have a glimpse into what was happening there was something that immediately fascinated Brennan.

When the tall, red headed woman took the stage and introduced herself as Charlotte Townsend, Brennan was surprised at how beautiful and put-together she looked. In her mind, she imagined a much different kind of person…someone rougher around the edges and certainly more jaded. But it only took moments before Brennan was caught up in Ms. Townsend's narrative, finding she was able to actually visualize the pictures of war the reporter described with respect and not a small amount of color.

When the speech was over, Brennan joined the crowd in a standing ovation. As the crowd began to disperse, she waited patiently while Ms. Townsend accepted congratulations from several other audience members and then began to make her way towards the other woman. As she got closer, Charlotte turned and saw her, a smile of recognition crossing her pretty face.

"Dr. Temperance Brennan…" Charlotte extended her hand, accepting a strong handshake from Brennan. "I'm honored you were able to attend my speech today."

"Ms. Townsend." Brennan nodded. "My editor asked me to attend as a favor, but I can say with honesty that I thoroughly enjoyed your lecture. It was incredibly informative and you are a very talented speaker."

Charlotte smiled wider, glad the world famous anthropologist and author was not only interested in her topic but seemed to truly like her speech. "Thank you so much, Dr. Brennan. I'm glad you found it interesting."

"Of course. My FBI partner recently returned from Afghanistan and I was curious about the conditions there." Brennan waited as Charlotte gathered her things and moved to walk beside her out of the hall. "Arlene also wanted me to offer you help and maybe some guidance on getting your narrative about the war published. I myself have published several novels and educational papers so I am well-versed in the topic."

Charlotte tried to follow Brennan's words, but found herself stuck on the first part of the sentence. 'My FBI partner…Afghanistan…_' Oh, it couldn't possibly be…_, she thought. Forcing herself back to what Brennan was saying, Charlotte smiled again. "That is so generous of you, Dr. Brennan. I'm not even sure I really want to do a book but I'd appreciate any tips you have."

Opening her mouth to respond, Brennan was suddenly distracted by her cell ringing. Looking at her phone, she apologized. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Townsend. That is my partner…just a moment." She held the phone to her ear to speak. "Brennan… Do we have a case?" Brennan walked away slightly as she talked to her caller.

Holding the phone to her chest, Brennan turned back to the reporter, "I'm sorry, I have to go. Work." She rummaged around in her bag and fished out a business card, "Take my card, feel free to give me a call if you have any questions."

Charlotte graciously took the card as Brennan turned around to leave she heard her huff into the phone, "Yes Booth, I'll meet you there. I'm leaving now…."

_Booth. Well, that settles that._ Charlotte thought. _It really is a small world after all._

B&B

When Brennan arrived at the crime scene, Booth was already standing guard over the body, directing the FBI techs to secure the scene and generally keeping them out of Brennan's remains. To no one's surprise, Booth and Brennan had fallen back into their easy, productive partnership rhythm almost seamlessly, and Brennan couldn't have been more grateful for that.

As she crouched over the body, Brennan studied Booth as he took witness statements and spoke to the local PD. While his personality and disposition seemed unchanged, the same couldn't be said for his body. Booth was leaner, and certainly more muscular, with a deep tan that only served to highlight the changes. Before he left he had excellent definition, but now…Brennan was intrigued by how much more attractive Booth seemed, even though she had never really given it much thought previously. Shaking off the inappropriate musings, Brennan went back to work.

After all the evidence had been collected and the body was readied for shipment to the Jeffersonian, Booth walked Brennan back to her car.

"So Bones, where were you when I called? It took you forever to get here." Booth smiled, making sure Brennan knew he wasn't lecturing her in any way.

"Oh, I was at a speech my editor asked me to attend. Charlotte Townsend, a journalist embedded in Afghanistan, was speaking about her experiences there. It was rather fascinating. I spoke to her afterwards and…" Brennan trailed off as she realized that Booth was no longer next to her. Turning, she saw that Booth had stopped walking, a look on his face she didn't recognize. "Booth? Is something wrong?"

Shaking his head, Booth brought himself back to the present. "Uh, no. But…" He paused, unsure of how to explain what had stopped him to Brennan. "Do you remember when I told you about the woman I met in Afghanistan?"

Brennan nodded, as realization dawned on her simultaneously. "That was Charlotte Townsend?"

"Yeah." Booth moved to continue walking. "I left before she got back from a trip to London so…I don't know if she even knows what happened with me."

Brennan hummed in response. "Well, I can see why you were attracted to her. She's very beautiful. And nice as well, from what I gathered from the few moments I spoke with her."

"You talked to her?" Booth was uncomfortable, but unsure as to why.

"Yes, as I said, my editor asked me to attend the lecture, to offer Ms. Townsend advice on possibly publishing a book on her experiences. We didn't speak long; you called while we were talking."

"Ah." They reached their separate cars, and Brennan allowed Booth to help her with her gear as she pulled off her jumpsuit. "Well, I need to head over to the Hoover to get this paperwork started. I'll see you at the lab later?"

"Sure. I'll call if we get anything beforehand. Talk you to later, Booth." Brennan climbed into her car and drove away. Booth watched her go with a feeling of something very similar to dread churning in his gut as he got into his own car and headed for the Hoover.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh, I, I'm the one who's here tonight,

and I don't wanna do it all in vain."

- Elvis Costello, _Miracle Man_

The next afternoon Charlotte stood in the doorway of Booth's office with her hands on her hips, "I prefer the fatigues to the suit but that's just me."

Booth started to smile before even looking up from his desk, "I heard you were in town."

"I do get around." She slowly made her way into his office and took a seat across from him. "I was surprised you were gone when I got back from London – you still had five months left."

"I'm sorry, it just…it couldn't be helped. There was a problem with my team and I had to come back." He looked her over – she was honestly the only thing he could say he missed about Afghanistan.

Charlotte shrugged, "Don't be sorry. I had fun with Tucker, I mean not you know the _kind_ of fun I had with you but…It all worked out."

"Good to know." He stood and rounded the desk, sitting on the edge in front of her, "I heard you're writing a book about your experiences over there, how's that going?"

Charlotte tucked her hair behind her ears, "It's not. Sitting in a room all day with my lap top isn't my idea of a good time."

Booth nodded, "I know, Charlie."

"But on the other hand it's a fantastic offer and it's a story that should be told so...I really don't know what I'm doing right now."

He leaned forward and smiled, "What about tonight? What are you doing tonight?"

She twitched her mouth side to side and then confessed, "Honestly, I was planning on laying in bed and catching up on my Hulu queue. Lame, I know but I have two days before I'm back on the road and I don't know when I'll have time again."

"Do you want to get dinner first? Around 7 or so?"

"Sure, I'm at the Mandarin Oriental."

Booth whistled, "That's quite the step up from a tent in the desert."

"Hey, it's on the publisher's dime." She sighed and stood, "I gotta get to a meeting. See you tonight?"

"That you will." Booth grinned as he watched her leave. He shook his head as he sat back down at his desk, Charlie Townsend was in town…

B&B

Shortly after 7pm Charlotte was awoken by a knock on her hotel room door. She quickly rolled out of bed and grabbed her phone, checking the time. "Sh#t!" She exclaimed as she quickly made her way to the door. She started apologizing as soon as she opened it, "I am so sorry. I fell asleep and slept through my alarm. I'm a mess."

Booth smiled and took in the sight before him. Charlotte's thick red hair was tousled and the tight, vintage Lou Reed t-shirt and short boxers she was wearing accented her curves in a very fetching way.

He stepped into the room and grinned, "It's ok."

Charlotte closed the door behind him, "I can be ready in like 15 minutes if you don't mind waiting?"

He looked around the expansive suite and then his gaze landed on her. "I'm not really hungry – are you?"

She bit her lip and shook her head, "Nope."

Without a thought in his mind he moved toward her. He wrapped one arm around her waist and slid the other into her hair, pulling her close. "We could resolve that unfinished business we always talked about. No more sneaking around in the middle of the night, having to be absolutely quiet."

She shivered from the rasp in his voice and intensity in his eyes. She had no choice but to fall closer to him and wrap her arms around his back. "I'm up for that." She cooed. "I'm up for anything."

He smiled against her lips before collecting them with her own. With one gentle push they started to stagger to the bedroom, never losing contact.

Much later in the night they laid side by side, spent and quietly collecting their breath. After several minutes passed Charlotte quietly confessed, "I went to Arlington today."

Booth rolled over and propped his head up with his arm, "Sambo?"

She mimicked his movement and faced him, "Yeah, I left him some Tabasco sauce."

"I-I haven't been yet. I'll go soon…I just…"

"I know." She reached out and smoothed her hand down his cheek. "Tucker's wife had the baby, a little girl. They let him set up a webcam so he got to see the birth – that was an amazing day."

"I can only imagine." Booth leaned his forehead against hers, comforted by the fact that he didn't have to explain anything to her about his time away. She knew it all.

He rolled over on his back and pulled her with him. She rested her head on his chest and they slowly drifted to sleep.

In the morning, Booth woke up and rolled over in the large bed. Charlotte had moved to the other side at some point in the night and was curled up on her stomach, her naked back revealed to him. He watched her sleep and tried to keep himself from wondering what the night had meant and what she thought about it all. Seeley Booth was trying for once to just enjoy the moment.

Later in the evening after Booth and Charlie had spent the day in and out of bed, catching up on the men they had in common thanks to war and eating room service, Charlie approached Booth in the bedroom with papers in hand.

"I'd like you to read my story."

Booth smiled, "Sure…" He took the pages from her, "Who else has read it?"

"My publisher, Tucker – it made him cry."

"Well, Tucker is crier by nature so…"

She sat on the bed next to him, "Yes, I know. And the only other people to have read it are the good people at 'Time' magazine, it's going to be their cover story in a few weeks."

"That's amazing. Congratulations"

"Yeah, it's a pretty big deal for me. So, read it and I'll go in the other room."

Booth leaned back in the bed and within the first paragraph was transported back to the desert.

A few minutes later Charlotte walked back into the room to grab her phone. "Oh my god."

He looked up from the pages, "What?"

"Who knew that there was nothing sexier on the planet than a hot guy in nothing but boxers reading my words in bed?" She shook her head and took her phone off the dresser, "Continue."

Booth laughed as she walked back out of the room and started a heated phone conversation with some guy named Lou.

Just as he finished reading he heard his phone vibrating in his jeans in the floor. He scrambled to pick it up, "Booth…."

"Hey, it's me. We have an ID on our victim, but it's odd..." Brennan began, sounding distracted.

Booth pulled himself off the bed and stood by the window, hand in his hair. "Odd how?"

"We found him through dentals in the Armed Forces Database, but everything else is classified. Way above my clearance and even above yours, Booth. We're at a dead end." She sighed in frustration. Booth knew she was at the yellow lights on the hissy fit scale just by the tone of her voice.

"Alright, Bones. Relax. I'll call my boss and see what we can do, and then I'll head to the lab."

Brennan paused for a moment. "I...don't want to interrupt your weekend, Booth. I can call you if-"

"Bones. This is my investigation, too. If you're working it, I'm working it. It's okay. I'll be there soon."

"Alright. I'll see you soon. Bye, Booth."

"Bye."

After hanging up with Brennan, Booth pulled on his clothes and waited until he heard Charlotte end her own conversation before heading out to the sitting area. He found Charlotte engrossed with something on her lap top screen, "I gotta go – work."

She looked up at him and nodded, "Oh, ok."

"I-I don't know how long it'll take but…." He trailed off, not knowing what he wanted to say.

"But what, Seeley?"

He shrugged, "I could maybe…I don't know, I guess I could come back when I finish up."

Charlotte smiled at his awkward wording, "I'll be up late. Lou, my editor, just gave me a ton of revisions so I'll be fiddling with those most the night."

"Ok." He walked to the door and paused with his hand on the door knob, "By the way, that was the most realistic thing I've read about the war – it's very impressive."

She offered him a high-watt smile, "Thanks."

B&B

"So what you're telling me is that we have no leads, no suspects and a strange ID on the vic, correct?" Booth huffed in frustration, running his hand through his hair distractedly.

Angela nodded in tandem with Brennan, understanding Booth's ire but not the intensity behind it. "I really am sorry, Booth. I checked every database we have access to, the guy isn't in any of them but the AFDB...and even that is heavily classified. It's like he doesn't exist beyond that."

"I know Ang, thanks. Really. I'm just…frustrated and exhausted. I was...never mind. I'm sorry." Booth turned on his heel and walked off the platform, heading for Brennan's office.

Hodgins looked at Angela and Brennan, eyebrows raised. "What's wrong with him? He is much touchier than usual today."

Brennan shook her head. "I don't know, let me talk with him." She headed down the stairs of the platform, following Booth into her office and closing the door behind her.

Cam stepped up to the two remaining on the platform, questioning look on her face. "What's going on?"

Angela frowned. "I don't know. Booth seems stressed about something."

"Hmm." Cam watched as Brennan drew the blinds to her office. "Well, whatever it is, Brennan will get to the bottom of it, I'm sure."

Inside Brennan's office, Booth lay back on her sofa and tried to relax. He didn't know if he was frustrated by the case or the confusion he felt about his night with Charlotte. He watched dispassionately as Brennan closed and locked her door and drew the shades, beginning to feel even guiltier for being so abrupt with her and the rest of the team. And when she finally sat down next to him, inquisitive look on her face, the guilt rolled in full force.

"I'm sorry, Bones. Honestly. I'm just frustrated and tired. Usually, we have something more by now."

"I'm the one who is sorry, Booth. I feel like we let you down."

"Nah, you never let me down, Bones. I haven't gotten any good leads on the investigative side, either. And with the guy's info being classified, we're stuck. This whole case is just a cluster-uh, a mess." Booth gave her the first genuine smile she'd seen on him since the case started, and she felt something tense in her chest begin to release.

"So, if you're feeling a little better…would you like to go get a drink?" She watched, confused, as Booth blanched.

"I uh…I would love to, Bones. But I…I have…. have plans tonight." Booth wondered why he suddenly felt bad about that fact.

"Oh. Okay then…." Brennan smiled slightly, standing and heading for her desk. "Charlotte Townsend?"

Nodding, Booth stood, suddenly wanting to be anywhere but in that office. "Yeah. Um, she's leaving in the morning for Portland so… I…need to get going. I'll see you Monday?"

"Sure, Booth." Brennan's stomach flipped as she watched him leave. "Have a nice weekend."

Booth strolled out of the lab under the watchful eyes of Cam, Angela and Hodgins.

"Well, whatever's bothering him is still bothering him." Angela observed.

Cam scoffed. "How on earth can you tell? He looks more relaxed than he did when he went to Brennan's office."

Hodgins shook his head. "Nah...something's different. Not wrong...just..."

"Different." Angela agreed. "He looks less burdened, but...not. It's hard to explain, it's just a feeling I have."

"You people try too hard. Sometimes a banana is just a banana." Cam shook her head and walked back toward her office.

B&B

After going to the Hoover and putting in requests to the have the victim's records unsealed, Booth headed back to the hotel. Checking the clock on the dash he wondered if it was too late but decided he had to at least say good bye to Charlotte. He knocked on the door and was pleasantly surprised when she answered the door with a smile and no hint of being tired.

"I was wondering if you were coming back."

"I said I would." He flopped down on the couch and sighed, "Sorry it's later than I thought. This case is…It's pissing me off."

She smiled as she sat down next to him, tucking her feet underneath her, "Not a problem, I actually got a lot of work done while you were gone."

"Wanna go down to the bar and get a drink?" The truth was all Booth wanted to do was go to bed but he wasn't sure that she was up for a repeat performance of the previous night.

"There's booze here and my flight leaves at 7 in the morning so I probably shouldn't stay up too much later."

Booth nodded, "I'd like to take you to the airport."

She stood without saying a word, moved behind the couch and leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Then you should just stay here tonight."

He turned his head just in time to see her walking toward the bedroom, stopping to peel her shirt off in the doorway without looking back at him.

B&B

The ride to the airport the next morning was quiet, neither of them knowing what to say about the weekend they spent together. Booth parked the SUV and looked at Charlotte, "Where are you headed after Portland?"

Charlotte sighed and smiled, "I don't know. You know how it goes, any port in a storm."

Booth nodded and they both slowly exited the vehicle. He grabbed her bag from the back seat and started walking with her. She turned and took her bag from his shoulder, "I can make it to my gate by myself."

"Ah, I'll walk with you."

They made their through the airport and with a flash of his badge Booth was able to walk her up to her gate. He paused for a minute and grabbed her arm. She turned with a grin, "Yes Seeley?"

He tilted his head and was surprised by the words that poured out of his mouth, "I, uh, I'd like to be your DC port."

Charlotte glanced down at her feet and then up to his sincere brown eyes, "I could probably come back in a week or so… Nothing's definite with me but I could try…."

He smiled and stepped closer to her, "Give me a call when you know, Charlie."

She nodded, "Ok…I've gotta board now." She cupped his chin, "It was a good weekend, thanks"

"No, thank you." He dipped his head down and brushed his lips against hers.

Charlotte pulled back with a sweet sigh, "I'll call you, Seeley."

Booth nodded and watched her walk away, as soon as she was out of sight he began to wonder why he asked her to come back.


	3. Chapter 3

"Your mouth is made up but your mind is undone."

- Elvis Costello, _Accidents Will Happen_

The radio played softly in the background as Booth and Brennan drove towards their destination, neither feeling the need for conversation at the moment. Booth's thoughts moved from the case at hand to the woman sitting next to him, to the woman he was currently sharing a bed with. Quite honestly, he didn't want to investigate his feelings on the whole Charlie/Brennan issue but he was beginning to think that he wasn't going to be able to avoid it for much longer. Things with Charlie were easy and fun, not the least bit stressful or complicated. Complicated. Now there was a word he most definitely had to attribute to his relationship with Bones. There wasn't even a word for the co-dependent entanglement their relationship was, and even if there were an appropriate word it would probably be seven syllables long and totally unpronounceable.

Brennan's sudden movement drew him out of his musings with a start. She was digging through her messenger bag, looking for something specific. When she finally found what she was looking for, Booth couldn't have been more surprised.

"Booth, have you seen Charlotte's story in Time?" Brennan held the magazine up for him as he glanced over quickly.

"Uh…not the magazine, no. I already read the story, so I didn't feel the need to read it again."

"There's a picture of you in there."

"Really?" Booth looked at her with raised eyebrows.

Brennan nodded and flipped through the magazine quickly. "See? Right here. It's a good picture of you."

She held it up close to him so he could see without driving them off the road. Booth glanced long enough to see where she was pointing, a photograph taken at their first destination after a long training period near the Baghlan Province. Charlie was in the middle of the picture, flanked by Sambo and Tucker while Booth stood grinning slightly behind them all. They all looked happy…and they were, for a time. A pang of sadness flicked across Booth's face as he turned back to the road, but Brennan was staring at him and he managed to catch it before he covered with a smile.

"Cool. Made a national magazine. Now I'm famous too." Brennan chuckled lightly; trying to ignore the darkness she had seen crossing his face. There would be another time for that conversation, she knew. But now wasn't that time.

Changing the subject, Brennan sighed, "I can't believe that Sweets appealed to the director to get us back in counseling. It's unnecessary."

Booth rubbed his forehead, "I know but I'm sure he thinks he's doing the right thing. We just need to go in there tomorrow, let him see that we're fine and that'll be the end of it."

Brennan wanted to ask if they were in fact 'fine' but she didn't because that too was a conversation for another time. "He said that it's because of the separation. He says it like..like.." She wasn't sure how to complete her thought.

So, he did it for her, "He says it like we're a married couple who were legally separated for seven months – I know."

She shook her head, "Ludicrous."

"It's how he sees us."

"And again that's ludicrous."

Booth nodded in agreement as they pulled up to the witness' house. As Booth was getting out of the vehicle, his phone rang. When he saw who was calling he glanced over at Brennan nervously and then answered the phone. "Booth."

"Hey, it's me. I know you're probably in the middle of saving the world and all that but I wanted to let you know that I have to take a later flight." Charlotte explained quickly. They had only spoken once before in the 10 days she had been gone, the previous night when she called to let him know she was coming back to DC for a few days.

"That's fine." Booth mumbled under his breath, glancing once again at Brennan. "What time?" he asked as he pulled out his notepad.

"My flight gets in at 8:34, American flight 146."

Booth jotted down the info and repeated it to her, "8:34, American 146. Ok, I'll see you then."

"Alright." He could hear the smile in her voice causing him to smile faintly.

He hung up the phone and slipped it back in his pocket. He looked over at Brennan and adjusted his tie, "Ready?"

Brennan smiled, "Sure." She wanted to ask who the caller was but she already knew the answer. Charlotte Townsend was obviously coming back to town.

B&B

A few hours later Booth dropped Brennan off at the lab and as she made her way to her office Angela immediately noticed that something was eating away at her friend. She waited until she saw Brennan get settled at her desk before she approached her.

"Ok, what's wrong?" Angela asked as she sat down and crossed her legs.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"It's obvious that something is bothering you."

Brennan sighed, "I am bothered."

Angela tilted her head, "Ok…about what?"

"Booth is…I'm concerned that the war changed Booth."

"He seems the same to me. A little distracted but he's still Booth."

Brennan leaned on her forearms, "When he was in Afghanistan he met a woman, a reporter named Charlotte Townsend who was embedded in his unit. Apparently it was a relationship that was sexual in nature."

Angela furrowed her brow, "Who goes off to war and finds a woman?"

"Booth, I suppose. The thing is…" She bit her lip, "She's quite a beautiful, intriguing woman…"

"You met her?"

Brennan nodded, "My editor asked me to go listen to a lecture she was giving two weeks ago. I didn't know who she was at the time but I really liked her."

"Did Booth see her while she was in town? Is she still in town?"

"He did see her when she was here and it appears she's coming back tonight." Brennan frowned, "We haven't talked about her, not really." She reached into her bag and pulled out the magazine that was already folded to the desired page, "This is her."

Angela took the magazine from her and commented in surprise, "He looks so…so happy."

"I know. What do you think that means?"

"I don't know, Bren. I wish I did."

Then much to Angela's surprise Brennan blurted out, "She's not right for him. She travels all the time, she's unavailable. It's not good for him – it's not what he needs."

"Maybe not. But maybe it's what he needs right now." Angela stated with a sympathetic smile.

"What do you mean?"

Angela sighed and leaned back in her seat, struggling to find the right words, "Booth has been through a lot in the last two years and maybe he…he just needs something that's not so…all-consuming. Maybe he needs something to-to just let him relax and not worry about all the things that he has assumed responsibility for."

"I have a difficult time seeing him needing that." Brennan scoffed.

"Sometimes we all need to be free of our encumbrances. Have you ever thought about what you might need?" Angela asked knowing that her friend wouldn't have an answer to that question.

B&B

Booth looked at his watch, Charlotte's plane had landed 20 minutes prior and he wasn't sure how to feel about seeing her again. On one hand, he liked, he _really_ liked her, but on the other hand, he knew that 'like' wasn't enough at least not for him. Luckily he didn't have much time to dwell on his dueling hands because seconds later he saw her breezing through the airport.

As soon as he saw her he was reminded of why he was attracted to her in the first place. At first glance she looked like she was completely unaffected by the world, she carried herself like nothing could touch her but then in an instant she would transform into the most sincere, bleeding heart he'd ever met. She smiled as soon as she saw him.

Booth returned her smile and suddenly his debate on how to feel about her flew out the window. He was happy to see her. "Hey there stranger."

"Hey there yourself." They didn't kiss or hug upon meeting again, they just stood and looked at each other.

"How was your flight?" He asked as they started moving toward the exit.

"Your average six hour flight next to a woman who thinks it's cute when her kid screams for over half the trip."

Booth laughed as he slipped her bag off her shoulder, he saw a protest forming on her lips, "Just let me carry the damn bag."

"Fine." She bumped her shoulder with his, "I forget that you're the last chivalrous man on the planet sometimes."

When they arrived at his SUV, Booth gently pinned Charlotte against the passenger door and brushed her hair away from her eyes, "How long are here for?"

"Two maybe three days."

He nodded before kissing her lightly, "Make it three and I'll make it worth your while."


	4. Chapter 4

We can talk like we're in love or talk like we're above it

We can talk and talk until we talk ourselves out of it.

– Elvis Costello, Talking in the Dark

"Thank you for coming today." Sweets smiled as he took a seat across from Booth and Brennan late the following day.

"It's not like we had a choice, Sweets." Booth grumbled.

"Booth and I have discussed this and we both agree that this unnecessary."

"Dr. Brennan, with all due respect I'm the one who determines if this is necessary or not."

Booth sighed and pulled himself up in his chair, "Alright, what do you want to know?"

"How are things?"

"_Things_ are fine. We solved our first case back in record time, this second is taking a little longer but that's not because of me and Bones. Bones and I are the same as we've always been."

"The only thing different between now and when we left is that now Booth has a girlfriend." Brennan stated matter-of-factly.

"Thanks Bones." Booth spoke out of the side of his mouth.

"You've been back in town for less than two months and you have a girlfriend. I never left and I haven't met anyone worth dating." Sweets shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh, he didn't meet her here." Brennan pulled out the magazine she had shown Booth and Angela the previous day, "See, he met her in Afghanistan."

Booth watched Sweets study the picture and waited for his evaluation of it.

Sweets looked up, "Dude…"

Hiding a smirk, Booth thought of the woman he'd left in his bed that morning and cleared his throat, "She's not my girlfriend."

"Then why does Dr. Brennan think she is?"

"I don't know – you'd have to ask her."

Both men focused their attention on Dr. Brennan, "I assume that a woman who has come to DC twice in the last 3 weeks to have sex with Booth is his girlfriend." Brennan explained only to Sweets, ignoring Booth's gaze boring down on her.

Booth also chose to only explain things to Sweets, "Look, this thing between me and Charlie isn't a thing, I mean it's a thing it just isn't a _thing_. You know what I mean?"

Sweets rested his index fingers in a point on his lips, "Mm hmm, I most definitely know what you mean."

"I-I don't know what you mean." Brennan stated quietly.

Sweets shot Booth an uncomfortable look, hoping the agent would explain things but Booth's face had turned to stone – he wasn't going to say a word. Sweets squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them when he started to explain, "What Agent Booth means is that while he is in fact…spending…time… with this woman it's not a…full-fledged or what may be construed as a traditional relationship."

When Brennan understood, or at least thought she understood, she smiled, "So, it's just sex? That makes sense, I suppose."

B&B

"Can I say something?" Charlotte asked Booth later that night as they ate at Marrakesh, a Moroccan restaurant on the other side of town.

"Could I stop you?" Booth asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

She grinned and tossed her hair back, "Nope."

"Then say away."

"I've noticed that you seemed a lot more relaxed in a war zone than you are here, in the city you live in. Do you feel that?"

Booth knew exactly what she meant and he responded slowly, "Yeah, I do."

Charlotte found that response sufficient and went back to her meal.

"You're not going to ask why?"

"I figure that if you wanted to tell me you would. So…"

"I appreciate that – I think." He glanced over at her, "I saw the magazine _and_ the pictures."

She scrunched her face up and bit her lip, "Seel, if I had known you were going to be in it I would have told you before it hit the stands but Lou just gave them 20 or so pics and they chose what they wanted. And since I talked about Sam the most they used that one because he wasn't in any others."

Booth saw a flare of remembrance on her face, Sam Bowers was the first they lost. "Yeah, he was gone what? Two weeks later?"

"22 years old. Never saw it coming." She shook her head, his death had been hard on Charlotte mainly because she had witnessed it firsthand.

"None of us did."

"Thanks for making me stay." A few nights after the incident was the first time Booth went to her tent in the middle of the night to check on her and after, he just kept going back.

Booth smiled, "Hey, the first thing you told me when I picked you up at the landing strip was that you were there to tell the story and to tell it right. If you had run away then you wouldn't have been able to do either."

"So, you were just using your masculine wiles to make sure I did my job?"

He leaned toward her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "You know that wasn't my intention for stopping by that first time."

She grinned, "I know but it was very effective."

B&B

Brennan poured herself a glass of wine and settled herself at her dining room table, laptop at the ready. She had every intention of writing a few new chapters for Kathy and Andy, but for some reason her thoughts were turning to a more real couple…Booth and Charlotte.

To anyone who would listen, Brennan insisted that jealousy was a useless emotion, and something she herself never indulged in. But in the semi-darkness of her quiet apartment, she could be truly honest with herself. She was blindingly jealous of Charlotte Townsend. And the one thing that bothered Brennan most about that fact was that she had genuinely liked the woman and could see clearly what Booth saw as well. She was beautiful, confident, and intelligent. Booth had told Brennan once that she was his standard, but Charlotte…she was an entirely different set of standards altogether.

Sighing, Brennan snapped her laptop shut and moved to the kitchen to put her glass away. Instead of wallowing in her unease, she was going to push it aside for now and move forward. She didn't know what she wanted exactly, but she knew that it centered on Booth…and since he belonged to another woman she was determined to respect that, no matter the cost to herself.


	5. Chapter 5

"They say that you will always be the last to know

They say that all that glitters is not gold

It's not just that you're never coming back to me

It's the bitter way that I was told."

~Elvis Costello, _The Comedians_

A little over two weeks later Brennan knocked on Booth's door a little after 9pm to drop off paperwork.

"Hey Bones, what's up?" He gestured for her to come in when he opened the door.

"I just wanted to drop these off since I'm not going to be in the office tomorrow." Brennan glanced around the room and was surprised at what she saw.

Charlotte was curled up on one end of the couch with her laptop, wearing a pair of faded, tattered jeans and one of Booth's equally well-worn Flyer's t-shirts. While it appeared, Booth had been sitting in the recliner on the opposite end of the room watching TV. She had thought that Charlotte was still in Cairo or Cypress or one of those places she disappeared to when she wasn't in DC with Booth.

"Hi, Charlotte." Brennan tried to sound as normal as possible.

Charlotte let the pencil that had been fixed in her mouth fall and she smiled, "Nice to see you again, Dr. Brennan."

"Please call me, Temperance."

As Charlotte opened her mouth to respond, her phone rang. "I'm sorry, I have to take this. It's my boss."

Brennan watched the other woman head back to the bedroom, Booth's bedroom, and then close the door. She turned to her partner, "I should get going."

"You don't have to." He sat back down in his chair and flipped through the files she gave him.

"No…" She sighed, "I really do need to get home and get ready for my meetings tomorrow and you're busy." She made her way to the door and quickly said, "G'night Booth."

Before Booth had the chance to tell her he wasn't busy, she was gone.

B&B

Cam was sitting at her desk working on the budget for the lab for the year when Brennan knocked softly on her door, looking almost tentative. Grateful for the respite, she waved Brennan in and gestured to the chair opposite her.

"Dr. Brennan, what can I help you with? Have we gotten any further in the case?"

"Can I ask you for some personal advice?" Brennan blurted out, looking to the office windows nervously, as if someone might be eavesdropping.

Cam managed to control the automatic reaction she wanted to have and kept her face as neutral as possible. "I- I'll do my best to help, although this idea seems to me like putting ketchup on ice cream."

"I don't know what that means, but it sounds distasteful." Brennan sighed and sat back in the chair, legs crossed. "You know that Booth is seeing a woman, correct?"

Cam nodded as she hid the smirk she wanted to give when Brennan completely ignored her comment. "Yes, I had heard."

"I'm confused."

"Yes, you often are in this area. What exactly are you confused about? That Booth is with another woman?"

Brennan scoffed. "Of course not. Booth is a very attractive man, with a kind disposition and any woman would be lucky to-" She stopped for a moment, and Cam swore she saw a flicker of pain cross her friend's face. "Any woman would be lucky to be with Booth. That's not…I'm not confused about that."

"Brennan…" Cam hesitated slightly. With anyone else she would be worried about hurting their feelings, but since this was Temperance Brennan, her only worry was actually being understood. "You need to tell me exactly what you're confused about because, frankly, I'm getting as confused as you."

"I'm sorry, I just…okay." Brennan seemed to come to some sort of conclusion. "I can't go into specifics, because it's personal, but essentially Booth made a romantic overture towards me and I turned him down."

"Whoa." Cam would have said she was stunned, but that word just didn't seem adequate. "When was this? Recently?"

"No. Last year, before he began dating Dr. Bryar."

"Ah." Cam finally got it. She had wondered why, after admitting he was in love with Brennan, Booth had suddenly began dating. She had considered asking him, but at the time there was quite a bit going on and by the time she thought of broaching the subject everyone was leaving for parts unknown. "That explains a few things."

Brennan nodded. "Yes. He said he had to move on, which he did."

"In spectacular Seeley Booth fashion, apparently." Cam smirked again.

"I don't know-"

"I'm sorry, Brennan. Ignore me. Go on." She waved her hand in front of her.

Settling herself back again, Brennan continued. "Anyway, when we agreed to go away for a year, it almost seemed as though…well, when we parted at the airport I felt…I had decided that I might have been…I can't explain this adequately. I just know that it didn't feel like a goodbye to me."

"More like a beginning?"

"Exactly! As if Booth understood how I was feeling, however he does that, and that we might be in a different place when we returned to each other."

Cam decided to ignore the blatant implication of Brennan's choice of words, instead focusing on the problem itself. "So he comes back, and this woman shows up shortly afterwards."

"Yes. Well…he did tell me about their relationship while they were in Afghanistan. Apparently, it was simply sexual in nature. At least…that's how Booth makes it seem. But…"

"Something happened?"

"Yes. I went to Booth's apartment to drop off some paperwork and Charlotte was there. And it was…"

"Awkward."

"No…well, yes. But not for the reasons you think. They were sitting around, Booth was watching television and she was working, and…it seemed like more than a sexual relationship. It was very comfortable." Brennan looked to her clasped hands in her lap, trying to hide the painful dismay on her face.

"It looked domestic." Cam said softly. At Brennan's nod, she continued. "I can see how that would not only confuse you, but maybe hurt you as well?"

Brennan's head shot up as she opened her mouth to immediately and reflexively object. Cam watched in fascination as the fight literally drained out of her friend, and her head dropped once again, the despair obvious and heart wrenching to watch. "Yes. I felt like I had been kicked in the chest."

Cam made a fist which caused her nails to bite into her palm, the sharp pain the only thing stopping her from bursting into tears. After all this time, after the denials and the obfuscations and the mutual blindness…this is what it's come down to. 'Unfuckingbelievable.', she thought to herself. 'Brennan finally realizes what is right in front of her, and now…it might be too late.'

Sighing, Cam stood and walked to kneel in front of Brennan, resting a hand on her chair. "Listen to me, Brennan. I am not going to get in the middle of what just might be the messiest, most complicated, most loving relationship I've ever had the honor of watching from the sidelines. But I want you to know that I do see why you're confused. All this time you've been insisting on having empirical proof that good, healthy love exists, that it's something you can have without the pain that has always accompanied it for you. And now you find yourself truly in love with this man who has promised to be all that and more, and when you realize it and decide to accept it from him, he's moved on to another woman. So you wonder…did he ever really feel it? Did you make some huge mistake? Because if he can move on with this other woman, how could he have loved you the way he says he did?" Cam paused, taking in Brennan's wide-eyed expression with something close to smugness. "Am I close?"

Brennan couldn't find her voice, she simply nodded.

"Dr. Brennan, I can assure you…Booth is still in love with you. He might always be in love with you, for the rest of his life."

"But how can you possibly know that?" Brennan managed to reply.

"Because the love he feels for you? It's born of years of friendship, of connecting with you on a base level that most marriages don't have, that's wrapped in more trust and respect than anything either of you will ever experience with anyone else. Anyone else." Cam stared directly into her eyes, willing her to understand. "Anyone else."

Brennan nodded and brushed an errant tear away irritated. "So, what? I just sit back and wait? Hope that he finally sees that I am ready to…to be with him?"

"Yes. That's exactly what you do. You owe it to yourself to do just that. And you especially owe it to Seeley." Cam stood and walked back to her chair, sat down, and delivered her final piece of wisdom. "Because that's what he has been doing for you for years."

Brennan dropped her head into her hands and released a long, exhausted, realization-filled breath. "Oh, my God."

Cam smiled. "Exactly."


	6. Chapter 6

"What if none of your dreams come true?

I can never run from you

There's never been a how d'you do

There's never been an ending

Soon you'll belong to someone else

And I will be your stranger just pretending."

– Elvis Costello, _Moods for Moderns_

Booth suspected he was in for a hard time when he spotted Cam strutting through the bullpen, determined look on her face and swing in her hips, headed straight for his office. He knew for sure he was in trouble when Cam walked in, turned and shut his door, then remained standing directly in front of his desk.

"Seeley."

"Camille."

"What are you doing, Seeley?"

Not in the mood for games or a lecture he didn't deserve, Booth sat back in his chair and smiled tightly. "Well, right now I am finishing up some paperwork for that case we wrapped last week. Then, I am going to go down to the bathroom at the end of the hall…run a comb through my hair, maybe take a piss. After that, I am heading to the airport to pick up Charlie." He leaned back and deliberately pulled the grin off his face. "Why?"

"Seeley, don't be that guy. I hate it when you pretend to be a jackass. It doesn't look good on you."

"Cam, I am at a loss, then. Want to clue me in on this horrendous thing I'm doing, because I have to tell you…I haven't got a clue."

Cam crossed her arms in front of her and raised her eyebrows in mock disbelief. "You're kidding me, right? I think you and I both know what and _who_ you've been doing. So now, I am going to play the friend card and ask you, once again….what the hell are you doing, Seeley?"

Booth sighed and leaned forward on his desk. "Fine, Cam. You're going to push this? Fine. I am in a relationship with a very nice, very beautiful woman. A woman who wants to spend time with me, who thinks I am worth taking a chance with, who finds me interesting enough to get on a plane as often as she can and come to me. To me, Cam. Not away from me. So if you have a problem with that, I am afraid I am unable to give a good goddamn." Booth turned his chair and stared at the pictures behind his desk, drumming his fingers on the armrests in irritation.

Cam shook her head. "Nice. Glad to see that you're so happy it's making you defensive."

He whipped the chair back around, almost toppling it. "I am not defensive!"

"Uh huh." She moved to stand next to him, hand on his shoulder. "Look, Seeley. I get it. I do. It's nice to be wanted. Hell, we all hope for that. I'm just…" She shook her head again and turned away, heading for the door. When she reached it, she pulled it open again and faced him. "I just don't want you to miss the whole story because you're too busy skipping to the back of the book to see how it ends. I've read the footnotes, and let me assure you…you will miss out on a lot. It's a fascinating narrative."

A ghost of a smile crossed Booth's lips as he considered his friend's words. "I appreciate that, Cam. But I have been given chapters to read you never will, and it changes the whole story. Believe me." Neither of them was pretending they didn't know exactly what they were talking about.

"Oh, I don't doubt that you believe that, Booth. But you're not the only one getting a peek at the manuscript before it's finished. And my chapters are much more interesting than yours." Cam blanched at the irritated look that began to cross his face, and then decided to lay it all out for him. "Listen…you need to know that I am not trying to butt into your life, I'm really not. If you are truly, truly happy and believe that Charlotte is the woman you were meant to spend the rest of your life with, then I will be the first one in the reception line to kiss you both. But if you're not sure, Seeley…if you think or even suspect that you're indulging in a fling to deflect from the pain of something else…you just need to be careful. With your heart and with…hers."

Booth scoffed. "Charlie isn't in love with me."

"I never said I was talking about Charlie."

"Cam…" Booth stood again and leaned against the table behind him, arms crossed defensively. "You obviously know something that I don't. How can I possibly act rationally without all the available facts?"

"Wow." Cam smiled for the first time since she's stormed into his office. "You know who you just sounded like?"

"Who?" Brennan walked into the office, taking in Booth's posture and Cam's position and wondered if she had interrupted an argument.

"Oh, hi Dr. Brennan. I was just giving Booth a hard time. If I don't, he gets out of line." Cam moved closer to the door as she spoke.

"Funny, Cam." Booth nodded mockingly. "What brings you by, Bones?"

"I needed to let you know that we found out where Guildmeyer lives, and that according to the surveillance team he is home right now. You might want to go get him and bring him in." Brennan handed Booth a stack of papers outlining the evidence against their latest suspect.

"Damn." Booth looked at his watch and sighed.

"What's the problem?"

"I…" Booth looked at Cam's self-satisfied smirk and chose to completely ignore her. "I have to go pick Charlie up from the airport in about 45 minutes."

Brennan nodded. "Well, if you'd like, I can go pick her up for you. She knows me."

Cam hid her shocked expression fast enough that only Booth caught it. "Uh…thanks, Bones. That would be great. Really."

"It's no problem. I can't help you with your interrogation, so it makes sense. I can go ahead and bring her to Founding Fathers for our get together tonight, and you can just meet us there when you're finished." Brennan's expression never changed during the entire narrative, something Cam found impressive.

"That would really help me out." Booth scribbled down Charlie's information and handed it to Brennan. "Tell her I'm sorry I couldn't be there."

"I will. See you later then." Brennan turned to leave. "You'll be there as well, Dr. Saroyan?"

Cam nodded. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

B&B

"You never married?" Brennan asked as nonchalantly as possible after taking a sip of her wine. She had hoped that the rest of the team would have been at the bar by the time she arrived with Charlotte but that wasn't the case.

Charlotte shook her head, "No, never really wanted to. I mean...I'm not opposed to the idea, I believe in it. Like you, I come from a long line of love. My parents have been married for over 40 years, I have a proof it works, that it's real."

"What do you mean 'like me'?" Brennan put her glass down on the bar with authority, "You don't know me."

"You're famous, I'm a reporter - do the math. I read about your parents, how they stayed together through the worst of it and even after...All these years later, you're father never remarried – that's a level of love and commitment few people will ever find."

Brennan leaned onto the bar, she had never considered herself as much more than the product of abandonment because that was the glaring memory, the one that was in highlighted in her mind.

Charlotte rested her hand on Brennan's forearm, "I'm sorry if that was too personal...I get a little talkative when I get a few beers in me."

"No, well yes it was personal but I guess the information is out there and it was a generally more flattering comment about my parents then I normally hear." Brennan took another sip of her wine, "So, you believe in love and marriage but what? Never met the right person?"

"Honestly. I've probably met the right guy five different times. I just can't stop moving long enough to find out. I guess I've just always felt like the next big story was out there and if I was tied down, attached, I might miss something. I've never met a man who could hold me but not hold me down so…" When she saw the quizzical look on Brennan's face, she continued, "I'd like to win a Pulitzer before I'm 40. That gives me five years to find a way to tell a story that everyone else is telling but from a new angle and there aren't many angles out there."

Brennan nodded, it was an understanding between two women who had put their careers above all else. "What angle were you approaching the Afghanistan war with?"

"Actually, before I was embedded I didn't have one and then I met Seeley and he was gonna be my story, you know the real American hero type thing, but once I got to know him..." Charlotte trailed off, peeling the label off her beer bottle.

"What? You decided that he that wasn't the case? Because Booth is just that, an American hero."

"No, he is. You are 100% right. 15 years ago he leaves the Rangers as a highly decorated sniper, overcomes the horrors of that war to become an even more highly decorated FBI agent to then to give that all up to go back and lend a hand when his country needed him. That's a hero but..." She paused when she realized how intently the other woman was listening to her, Charlotte smiled faintly before continuing, "F. Scott Fitzgerald once said 'show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy', after getting to know him, I realized that I wasn't interested in writing Seeley Booth's tragedy."


	7. Chapter 7

Why must we learn it the hard way?

And play the game of life with your heart?

- Elvis Costello, _Walking on Thin Ice_

When Cam, Hodgins and Angela arrived at the bar they were surprised to find Brennan and Charlotte smiling and talking like old friends. Brennan quickly introduced her to the group, "This is Charlotte Townsend, a friend of Booth's."

They all made an effort to shake her hand and smile, "Call me Charlie, please."

Shortly after they all got settled, Sweets came bustling into the bar with a mile-wide grin fixed to his face. He promptly introduced himself and explained that Booth was going to be a little while longer. He sat down across from Charlotte and started to size her up while everyone else made pleasant small talk.

An hour later Booth walked into The Founding Fathers to find Charlotte sitting next to Brennan while having an animated conversation with Cam. There was something off about the scene but taking note of the relaxed nature of everyone, he realized that he was the only one who saw it that way.

Charlotte turned away from Cam and smiled at Booth, "Hey stranger."

He flashed a grin, "Hey there." He signaled the bartender for his usual and looked at his seating options. There were two empty seats, one of either side of Brennan and Charlotte.

"Here, I'll scoot down." Charlotte stated, moving closer to Cam to finish the conversation they had been having before he walked in. He took a seat between Booth and Charlotte.

Brennan watched Booth watch Charlie for a few seconds before she touched him on the forearm, "Did everything go ok with Guildmeyer?"

He turned his attention to Brennan, "Yeah, the guy is a douche bag and a sorry excuse for a human being but I don't think he did it."

"Why not?"

"He's got an alibi – he was scoring in Brookdale Park. I'm gonna have vice check out the story but…" He exhale deeply, his lips fluttering with the expressed air.

Brennan shared his annoyance, nodding, "Back to the drawing square…."

He started to agree with her but then all her words registered with him and he laughed, "What? No. You're mixin' your metaphors there, Bones. It's 'back to the drawing board' or 'back to square one'."

"Well, you knew what I meant."

"Yes, I did."

Booth found himself getting sucked into one of those moments with Brennan – the kind where they just stared and the world in his peripheral went fuzzy until he heard Angela ask, "So Charlie, where are you headed next?"

Booth and Brennan both leaned down on the bar to get a better angle on the conversation.

"Uh, I don't know right now. I'm waiting to hear from my editor for my next assignment."

Cam took a sip of her drink and then asked, "Doesn't it get old? Always being on the road?"

Charlotte shrugged as she felt six pairs of eyes focused solely on her - this was her interview to be accepted into Booth's world. "I like the travel, actually I love it. Yes, it has its downsides; bad food, gross hotels, rental cars that break down at every stoplight but…I see things and meet people that few ever do – I'm very fortunate."

"That's one way to look at it, I suppose." Angela shrugged. Booth caught a hint of snark from the artist and gave her a cautious look before she continued, "Don't you ever worry what you're missing never being in the same place very long?"

"Sometimes, like today on the flight from Prague I sat next to the International Affairs bureau chief for the _Washington Post_ and she offered me a job."

"Really?" Booth asked quietly.

Charlotte turned and looked at him, "Yeah but even after thinking about the whole day, I can't see myself taking it. It's just….it's not me."

Booth's eyes darted around the group but he remained silent. Noticing the uncomfortable vibe oozing from every pore of Booth's being, Cam jumped in and changed the subject, "Sweets how's the dog?"

"You got a dog?" Booth asked after taking a swig of his beer..

Sweets leaned against the bar, "I did. After Daisy left, I was feeling a little… I was…"

"Lonely?" Booth asked.

"Yes, I was lonely. I decided that instead of rushing into another ill-fated relationship I'd try something different. Vonnegut and I are slowly working things out, he's very willful and excitable. " He pulled out his cell phone to show everyone a picture of his new addition.

Hodgins chuckled, "So was Daisy - you'll work it out with Vonnegut."

Everyone with the exception of Charlotte started to laugh before Brennan pointed out, "You shouldn't compare Ms. Wick to a dog, Hodgins." Brennan pointed out.

"I wasn't. I was just saying that he's good with difficult people."

"A dog isn't a person." She responded, rounding her shoulders.

Charlotte leaned back on her stool and watched the group argue over whether or not being 'like a person' was the same as being an actual person. From the stories Booth had told her while they were in Afghanistan Charlotte had a pretty good understanding of who these people were but she realized that without seeing them all together she never would have been able to understand who they were to Booth. Family.

Thirty minutes later Booth could tell that Charlotte was trying her hardest to keep up and be a good sport but she had no frame of reference for half of what they were talking about and she was exhausted. He leaned toward her and whispered, "You ready?"

She nodded sleepily. "I'm sorry, but that flight kicked my ass."

He smiled, "It's OK."

As Charlotte and Booth exited the bar, Brennan watched as he wrapped an arm around the reporter and pulled her close, kissing her temple – sharing the hello they missed at the airport.

Once he was certain Booth was gone, Sweets moved to the center of the group and asked, "So?"

"She's….tall." Was all Hodgins could muster under the watchful eyes of his wife.

Sweets grinned, "She's like Booth in a skirt..."

"She seems very smart." Cam added while spinning the empty pretzel bowl on the bar.

"She's not terrible." Angela volunteered begrudgingly.

"No, no she's not." Brennan sighed with a hint of hurt, "She's not terrible at all."

B&B

Later that night, Booth woke up alone in bed with Charlotte nowhere in sight. He made his way through his apartment and found the window that went to the fire escape open.

"What are you doing out here?" He said as he crawled out and sat next to her.

"I needed some air." She responded without looking at him.

He bumped her shoulder with his, "I'm sorry about earlier, if you felt uncomfortable. We just..." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"It's ok. It's your life." She looked over at his profile in the night, "This, you and I, doesn't really work in the real world, I get that."

"Real world?"

"Yeah, this is a romantic 'A Farewell to Arms' type story I'll tell my grandchildren someday. You know, the time I had the torrid affair with the handsome soldier while I was a war reporter."

"This has been torrid?" He asked with brow cocked.

She grinned, "Ah, I'll jazz up for the kids."

Booth chuckled before turning serious again, he rubbed his hands together and asked, "Is that why you turned down the job at the _Post_?"

Charlotte ran her thumb up and down her cheek before responding, "Kind of."

"Ok, it's almost 4am, we're sitting on my fire escape, during a very cold November - now's the time to be honest, Charlie."

"I like who I am. I'm not the type to want to change that for anything or anyone but..." She shook her head, hating the words that she couldn't prevent from spilling out of her own mouth, "But, the more time I spend here, with you, I could see myself changing the way I am for you and I don't...don't like that. And _that's_ why I turned the job down."

For a second Booth wondered why he was so damn attracted to unavailable women, he knew Sweets could give him a list of reasons longer than the Great Wall but he that didn't stop him from asking, "What...What if I asked you to?"

She glanced at him sideways, "Asked me to what? Change? That's a little presumptuous on your part, don't you think?."

"No, not change. Take the job or at least consider it? It's not the 'real world' otherwise. It's you swooping in and out every 10-14 days and...It might be worth thinking about." He knew that in the light of day this would seem ridiculous and impossible but in the moment he didn't stop himself.


	8. Chapter 8

If there's a new kind of dedication  
Maybe you'll find it down the tunnel  
Maybe I got above my station  
Maybe you're only changing channel

– Elvis Costello, _High Fidelity_

Charlotte was running through Monroe Park the next morning when she saw Sweets kneeling before Vonnegut, his Labradoodle. She stopped and called out, "They respect you more if you prove to them you're the pack leader."

Sweets stood and turned around, not recognizing the voice, and shielded his eyes from the mid-day sun. "That's what the book said but I'm trying a different approach. Get down on his level, talk it out."

Charlotte giggled, "Yeah, I don't think that's gonna work."

"I'm beginning to think that as well."

"How does an FBI psychologist have the luxury of being in the park at 11am on a Tuesday?"

"Don't tell but I'm playing hooky."

Charlotte made an 'X' over her heart and then raised her palm toward him, "Hope to die…"

He smiled, "Thanks. The last thing I need is to hear is that I'm shirking my responsibilities."

"Seeley's a hard ass?"

"He can be, he's not my boss but he thinks he is and I'm not about to tell him that he's not." He glanced over at her and could tell by the furrow in her brow that she was internally struggling with something. "What brings you out here? You're pretty far from Booth's place."

She sighed, "I got running and I was thinking and then I just ran some more. Which isn't normal for me. Usually when I'm here I sleep all day but…." She cut her own rapid speech off before she said too much.

"But today you have something on your mind?" Sweets asked in 'therapist mode'.

She stared at her running shows pensively, "You could say that." They started walking to nowhere in particular when Charlotte said, "Say people are birds, ok?"

"People are birds." Sweets deadpanned.

"Cute."

He tilted his head, "Sorry."

"They only way for a bird to belong to someone, the only way to keep a bird, is to clip its wings and that's not a bad thing. It has a negative connotation but in reality, birds with clipped wings are still birds, right?"

"Right." He wasn't sure what she was talking about exactly but he had an inkling.

"I mean, you're not taking away their avian essence, right?" For some reason she found herself wanting to bare her soul to this guy who was little more than a stranger to her.

Sweets swallowed a laugh and agreed. "Right."

"They can still get from point A to point B they just can't fly as high and they can't head south when it gets cold but they're still birds, right?"

"Right."

"But I…I just…you know?" She looked at him utterly confused.

"You want to fly as high as you can and you hate cold weather." Sweets looked at this woman whom he assumed rarely lost her cool and found how frazzled she was endearing.

"Exactly, actually I love cold weather but the principle holds."

"So, you're struggling with being a domesticated bird?"

Charlotte bit the inside of her cheek and nodded, "I mean, Seeley is a good guy."

Sweets smiled "Yeah, sometimes I think that will be his epitaph; 'Here lies Seeley Booth - a good guy.'"

"He's fantastic really and I haven't met anyone, at least in my 30's, who can make the clipping of wings even seem appealing but he does in his…his way but…."

"So, you're not balking at _him_ clipping your wings, you're balking at them being clipped at all?"

She paused on the trail and shook her red hair dramatically out of its ponytail before pulling it back up, "I know I don't want to fly around aimlessly forever but I don't know if this is the right time to stop."

B&B

Booth and Brennan sat on opposite sides of her office couch, reading case notes and passing Chinese food containers back and forth. Neither spoke more than a few words, content in the easy, comfortable rapport that they hadn't enjoyed in months. After almost an hour, Booth looked at Brennan and noticed a scowl as she reread her report on the victim's remains.

"Something bothering you, Bones?"

Brennan's head snapped around to him, as if she had forgotten he was there. "Hmm? Oh, no. I was just thinking."

"Big surprise. You, thinking." He grinned.

She rolled her eyes. "I am always thinking. It's impossible for anyone to stop thinking unless they expire and cease brain activity naturally."

"There she is." He pointed at her. "That's the Bones I know and love."

Brennan turned the scowl on Booth. "What does that mean? I'm always me. I haven't changed."

Booth smiled softly and poked her shoulder with his outstretched finger. "I know that, Bones. I hope you never change." They shared a look filled with deeper meaning that Brennan wished she fully understood. "I just mean that you've…we've been off our usual rhythm lately. It's nice to see some things never change. That's all."

Brennan nodded slowly and purposely. "Yes. I find I have missed our connection the last few months."

"I'm glad, Bones. I'd hate to be the only one." He threw her his best charm smile.

Brennan shook her head at his obvious attempt to deflect from whatever intense conversation they seemed to be skirting, oddly disappointed. She had been struggling with their new dynamic since Charlotte had entered the picture, and even though things fluctuated on occasion, she had been anchoring herself with moments like these where it seemed they were still…them. Beyond everything that was happening, Brennan decided that she was going to find comfort in that simple, irrefutable fact.

She turned and gave Booth a crooked half-smile…the one that she had no way of knowing always turned him inside out.


	9. Chapter 9

Tell me, what you want of me or are you terrified of failure?

You put on a superstitious face behind all this paraphernalia.

We're not living in a masquerade where you only have three wishes.

It isn't easy to see in a lifetime of mistaken kisses.

– Elvis Costello, _Clown Strike_

"Dr. Brennan?" Sweets knocked on her office door.

"Yes, Sweets?"

"I just uh…here are my notes on the case." He stepped closer to her and offered a stack of files.

"Thank you but you could have just given them to Booth."

"I suppose I could have but I was over this way." He watched her glance over the documents and then toss them aside, "How are you?"

She looked up at him in annoyance, "Fine. Why do you ask?"

"No reason, I just haven't seen you recently and I was just asking. Being personable and all." It had been over a week since his run-in with Charlotte at the park and he wondered if Brennan had had the same type of talk with Booth since then.

"Thanks but I'm fine."

He bobbed his head up and down, "Good to know. Just in case, you know that my door is always open and anything you say is confidential – it stays between you and I."

Brennan tucked her tongue in her cheek and rolled her eyes, "What would I need to discuss with you?"

Sweets gingerly sat down across from her, "Dr. Brennan in all honesty, you don't handle change as well as you would like all of us to think you do and since you've returned from Indonesia there have been enormous changes. I'm sure you'd tell me that Booth's personal life doesn't affect you but we'd both know you'd be lying, wouldn't we?"

"I can admit that it affects me. We work together every day, what happens to him is no doubt going to affect me."

"What's happening to him, Dr. Brennan?"

"My partner is happy, Sweets."

"Are you? Happy, I mean."

Brennan had found it harder and harder to hide her true feelings over the past few months and she knew that Sweets would see through any attempt she made to mask her thoughts, "Not entirely, no."

He narrowed his eyes on her and asked, already knowing the answer, "Why not?"

"Well, for starters I'm certain you specifically stopped by here to gauge my reaction to Booth having a girlfriend and that's far beyond the realm of your responsibilities."

He stifled a smile, "And?'

"And what?"

"You said that was 'for starters' what's for enders?"

Sweets was leveled by the emotion in her voice when she said, "My partner is happy."

B&B

Booth pulled on his jacket, grabbed his keys and headed out of his apartment to pick Charlotte up from the airport. When he swung his door open he was surprised to find her standing on the other side, hand raised in a fist, ready to knock.

"Hey stranger."

He smiled, as he always did when he saw her after several days, "I was just on my way to pick you up."

"I know." She walked into his apartment and threw down her bag. "I came in earlier this morning."

"Why didn't you call me when you got in?"

"I had a few things to do."

He curiously watched as she went into the kitchen and came back with two beers and handed him one.

"What kind of things?" He sat down on the couch, never taking his eyes off her.

"I got in around eight this morning, rented a car and tried your city out on my own."

He smiled faintly, "Why?"

She sat down next to him, facing him on her knees, "Because I'm considering…"

"DC? The job?"

Charlotte nodded and took a swig of her beer, "I went to the paper and met the people, found out what kind of stories they're looking for and what my resources would be and I have to say…" She bit her lip, "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"Really?"

"Really. Then I went and looked at an apartment not seriously but… just feeling things out. You know, I haven't had my own place in almost three years – since I gave up my apartment in New York?"

Charlotte was considering changing her entire life simply because he asked her to and there was a primal attraction to the notion of that. He grabbed a hold of her and pulled her into his lap. "You did all of this today?"

"I did." She rested her nose against his neck and inhaled deeply, closing her eyes.

Booth tightened his grip around her, reveling in the tangible evidence that he was worth something to someone. He whispered in her hair, "Thank you."

She pulled back to look him in the eyes, "Did you think I wasn't going to?"

"I-I didn't…I don't know what I thought."

She kissed him briefly, "I was lost outside of Tulsa in the middle of the night a few days ago and it dawned on me that you had a point about me spending two days at a clip here out of 14. That if there is something here, it deserves more time."

He slid his hands up from her back and slipped them into her hair, keeping her in place and bridging the gap between them himself, it was the least he could do considering the gesture she had already made that day. She arched her back and he quickly rocked to the side, securing her between himself and the couch.

Amidst the frenzy of removing clothes, they eventually tumbled onto the floor but that didn't stop the perpetual movement they found themselves in.

After, Charlotte draped a bare leg across his waist and Booth pulled a blanket off the couch and covered them up. Before closing his eyes, he swept her bangs up, kissed her forehead and once again whispered, "Thank you."


	10. Chapter 10

I have to say that we should finish it now

Before we weaken 'cause we already know this is wrong

I could give in, sometimes I think that I will

Despite the temptation, I try to be very strong

- Elvis Costello, _I Still Have That Other Girl_

Booth wandered into the Jeffersonian at lunchtime a few days later looking for Brennan. When he noticed her office was dark, he walked towards the forensic platform, having seen Hodgins at his microscope when he'd passed the first time.

"Hodgins! Where is everyone?" He slid his card in the reader and ran up the steps to Hodgins' work station.

"You mean Brennan?" Hodgins smirked. "Ang and Cam decided to drag her to lunch. Girl stuff."

Booth nodded sagely. He'd been around enough women to know that they gossiped in packs. "One of them having guy troubles? Not Angela, I hope."

Hodgins gave him a look he didn't recognize, and then smiled. "Nah, I think they just wanted to have a hen party. Of course, I'm only guessing…Angela wouldn't tell me anyway."

"Mmmhmm." Booth looked around, suddenly uncomfortable. The two men stood looking at each other for a long moment, both trying to find something to say.

"So…" Hodgins couldn't stand it anymore.

"What?"

"Charlotte is pretty hot." Hodgins grinned.

Booth smiled. "Yeah. She's beau- gorgeous."

"And she seems really nice. I had a good time chatting with her the other night at the bar."

"She's a good person."

"Yeah, seemed really smart."

"She's very intelligent."

"And stacked."

"Ye-Hodgins!"

"I'm sorry, dude! I can't help it. It's a guy thing." He gave Booth a sideways glance. "We say we love them for their minds, but if that were true we would have 15 names for their brains and only one for their breasts, instead of the other way around."

Booth laughed, shaking his head. "Okay, Bug Man. You got me there. I'll let it slide this time."

"Great. I wasn't looking forward to explaining to Angela why you shot me in the ass."

"Good call."

They both smiled that conspiratorial smile men get when they're talking about women, sports or their favorite muscle car. After another weird moment, they both began to look around, searching for more to say. Hodgins finally decided to bite the bullet and break the stalemate.

"So, this woman…is it serious?"

Booth's first inclination was to blow his friend off and get the hell out of the lab as fast as he could, but something in him suddenly wanted a male perspective on his current situation.

"I don't know…yeah, maybe."

"Maybe? You don't know? Wow, Booth…way to hone in on your feelings there."

Booth scowled. "I'm just…it's…it seems to be getting serious."

"So you're not just…seeing each other naked. There are feelings involved on both sides."

"I guess." Booth thought about it for a moment. "Yeah."

"Have you talked to Brennan about it?" At Booth's incredulous look, he clarified. "I mean, she is your best friend, regardless of…you know, whatever else happens." Hodgins, by way of Angela, was well-versed in the ongoing soap opera that was Booth and Dr. Brennan, so he was aware of how things stood between the partners, and why.

"It's complicated." Booth tried to think of another way to explain it but came up dry.

"Dude, complicated doesn't even begin to cover it." Hodgins couldn't hold back a laugh at Booth's furious nod of agreement.

"Tell me about it."

Jack watched Booth's face as he seemed to be thinking hard about something, suddenly looking a little bit lost. He felt a pang of sympathy for the other man, especially knowing what had happened between him and Brennan all those months ago. "You want to know what I think? I mean, what I really think?"

Booth seemed to consider it, and then nodded.

"I think…you deserve to be happy, man." He sat back down at his station and crossed his arms over his chest. "And maybe it might take you some time to find out what or who it is that will make you happy, and you might run into some problems….God knows I can relate to that, but I believe that in the end you'll figure it out."

"Yeah, I wish I was as confident about that as you are, buddy."

"Booth…did something happen with Charlie? Was it…was it the job offer?"

"Would you ask Angela to change for you?" Booth blurted.

"Well, that was a non sequitur…"

"No, you wouldn't. Because you love her just the way she is. Right?" Hodgins tried to answer, but Booth barreled along. "If you love someone, if you want to be with them, you don't try to change them. You accept their quirks and their differences and their limit-." He cleared his throat, staring off into space for a moment. His thoughts suddenly veered wildly off course from where they started. "You accept their limitations and love them anyway."

"Booth? You okay?" Hodgins was genuinely worried for his friend, and judging by the look of despair on his face, whatever epiphany Booth had just experienced did nothing to ease his obviously troubled mind.

"Hmm?" Booth looked back at Jack, almost as if he'd forgotten he was there. "Oh. Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for the talk, man." He clapped Hodgins on the back, shook his head and walked off the platform.

Jack watched Booth leave, then turned back to his work with a sigh. Whatever was happening with his little family was going happen whether he liked it or not, he just hoped for all their sakes that there wouldn't be too much of a mess to clean up in the aftermath.

B&B

After Booth left Hodgins at the lab, he spent the rest of the day ignoring the numerous unimportant phone calls he received on any given day and contemplated the decision he had to make in the solitude of his office. When he realized that the decision had already been made for him, years before, he headed back to his apartment. He found Charlotte laying on the living room floor, doing research, papers scattered all around her, and shuffling her hips back and forth in time with the blaring music. For a split second he wished he was the kind of guy who could break up with a woman in an email or with a Post It, it would have been so much less painful.

He felt like a contestant on a game show who had already seen door number one's spectacular prize revealed and still decided to gamble on what was behind door number two. Again, he found himself gambling.

Charlotte turned the music down and pulled herself up onto the couch as he shucked his jacket and anxiously pulled at his tie, "You look white as a sheet – rough day?"

"Kind of…" He sat down next to her and let out a long, hesitant sigh, "I like who you are."

She smiled at him curiously, "And I like who you are…."

"Asking you to change who you are is a lot like putting a Yugo engine in a Corvette – it's a sin."

Charlotte shook her head slowly, "You don't want me to move to DC."

"I-I wouldn't say…If you change for me, no matter how good you doing so would make me feel, you would end up resenting me."

"It's not just for you. It would be good for me, to start acting like an adult."

"You're not doing it for you, though. You didn't even entertain the idea of it until I asked you to and…." The words of Dr. Wyatt rang in his ears, the ones about him being afraid of being responsible for someone else's destiny but Booth knew that this was more than that, at least he hoped it was.

She leaned her head back on the couch and tightly closed her eyes, "But I've _been_ entertaining it since you asked and I realized something-"

Booth cut her off, "I'm not what you want." He knew those words could have easily been '_you're _not what _I_ want' and that made him hate himself just a little.

Charlotte dropped her head forward and opened her eyes, looking at him with more hurt than he had anticipated, "But you could be exactly what I want, I just want it two years in the future. But if I wait...you could be gone and I'm not sure I want to risk that."

"You see? You're 'not sure' and I 'could be' exactly what you want and I feel the same way about you. I just…" He turned toward her, "I don't doubt that we would be happy together, we would have a good life but…"

"Good isn't good enough." It was a statement, not a question and the tone in her voice relieved Booth just a touch – she had come to the same conclusion as he had.

They sat in silence for several minutes before Charlotte noticed the time, "I have to…my flight."

Suddenly, she was thankful she had the foresight to pack earlier in the day and as she rose to gather up her papers from the floor he grabbed her wrist and she turned to look at him. With glistening, earnest eyes he said, "I'm sorry."

"I believe you."

After she gathered her things, Booth solemnly walked her down to her rental car and they both paused before she got into the driver's seat. Both feeling the need to say something but knowing that there was nothing to say, he bent down and kissed her for what they both knew would be the last time. And for some strange reason as he watched her drive away Booth had the urge to attend a meeting, the kind that took place in dank church basements, that he hadn't been to in a very long time.


	11. Chapter 11

But when I hit the bottle, there's no tellin' what I'll do

'Cause something deep inside me wants to turn you black and blue

I can't resist you, I can't wait

To twist your loving arms till you capitulate.

– Elvis Costello, _Wave a White Flag_

With Charlotte out of the picture, not much changed for Booth. He got up, went to work, saw Parker, ate meals with Brennan and so on. The only difference he could see or feel was the lack of anything to look forward to, at least with Charlotte there was always her impending visits or the odd phone call from the road.

"Don't you think that it's suspicious that Susan has no alibi for the 15th?" Brennan asked Booth over drinks a little over a week after Charlotte had left.

He nodded but remained silent and took a drink of his beer, when he tilted his head back the TV above the bar caught his eye.

"Are you going to bring her in and question her?" She asked. When he failed to respond, Brennan followed his gaze up and saw the object of his attention. It was Charlotte in fatigues and a flak jacket reporting from the Green Zone in Iraq. "I didn't know that Charlotte was in Iraq."

He glanced at Brennan quickly and then looked back up at the screen, "Neither did I."

"How could you not know?"

"I-I'm not seeing her anymore." It was the first time he had said it aloud to anyone and it bothered him more than he expected it to.

"Since when?" Brennan tried to hide her shock but it was a nearly impossible task. He had been distant and preoccupied all week but she had chalked it up to the situation in general not this new development.

Booth rubbed his chin slowly, "Since last week."

"Why?"

He dropped his head and sighed, "I-I don't really want to talk about it." He reached into his back pocket and threw a handful of bills on the bar and stood, "I'm gonna head home. See you in the morning?"

Brennan swallowed the last of her wine and followed him out to the street, "Booth!"

He whipped around as he pulled his coat on, "What?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know what to say. It…happened gradually and then all at once and I don't…I don't feel all that great about it."

Brennan studied his feet on the sidewalk; she could see him shifting his weight back and forth, anxious to be anywhere but there. She looked up and asked, "Did you love her?"

The question didn't surprise him but the fear in her voice shocked the hell out of him. He shrugged, "I could have….if not for you."

She replayed his words in his head and scoffed, "You're blaming me for the demise of your relationship with Charlotte?"

"A little…"

"I was nothing but nice to her and supportive of you being with her. I had nothing to do with her leaving you."

He stepped toward her and dropped his voice, "First of all, _I_ ended it. Me, not her. She, this woman who didn't know me nearly as well as you do and who I had given little of myself to, was ready to take a leap of faith with me and I ended it. And yes, Bones you had everything to do with it!"

"That's not fair."

"Nothing is ever fair. Sucks, huh?" He wanted to stop before he said another thing he couldn't take back so he turned on his heel and headed to the SUV parked on the side street.

Brennan followed hot on his heels, "Don't you say something like that to me and then walk away, you son of a bitch!"

He turned to face her but continued walking backwards, "Drop it, Bones."

"I will not! You tell me time and again how I'm not good with people, that I need to connect...but you're just as bad as I am! You claim to know how to read people, but when it comes to the most important people in your life...you're the one who sucks, Booth!"

Booth laughed darkly, "Yes, I do. I suck. But at least I can admit it."

"You admit it? Oh, of course...because you're always the first one to admit your failings!"

"Unlike you who never fails at anything, right? Ms. I-Never-Got-a-B."

""So what? I rarely fail! At least I don't use my physical attributes as a crutch! You throw that smile at people and expect them to fall at your feet and when they don't you take it personally. Well...it's not always about you."

He scoffed, "At least not with you it isn't."

"If you truly believe that, Booth, then you…you really don't know me at all." Brennan swallowed the tears she could feel rising and turned to head to her car.

"No, that's the problem. I know you too well. I always knew you'd say no!"

Brennan wheeled around, angry enough to spit fire. "Then why did you do it? Why, Booth? Why would you risk everything if you knew I wasn't ready?"

"Because I am so damn tired of always being the one who has to sacrifice, the one who puts everyone else first...and I just thought that maybe, just maybe it was my turn to be selfish and to hell with the consequences."

"But the consequences involved my life as well!"

"Did they? Could have fooled me."

"That's right, because I'm a cold, unfeeling robot. Like I said...you really don't know me at all." She turned and headed for her car without a single glance backward.

He watched her walk away, the pain and regret coiling in his gut. Shaking his head in self-deprecation, he muttered "And the hits keep on coming."


	12. Chapter 12

Oh my baby baby I love you more than I can tell  
I don't think I can live without you  
And I know that I never will  
Oh my baby baby I want you so it scares me to death  
I can't say anymore than "I love you"  
Everything else is a waste of breath  
- I Want You 

When Angela called Booth the next day to ask him to stop by her office, he immediately assumed the worst. And as soon as he walked in, watching as she closed and locked the door and pulled the shades…he suddenly knew this was not going to be a conversation so much as an interrogation.

"Okay. Bren is locked up tighter than a nun in a cathouse so I have to ask you. What the hell happened, Booth?"

"I don't know what you mean, Angela. What's going on?" Booth carefully schooled his face, making sure he had no expression whatsoever.

"You know damn well what I mean. Brennan came stomping in here an hour late this morning, madder than a rabid werewolf crapping hot lava. Something happened, and you are the only one who gets that kind of reaction from her."

"Angela…" He tried to deflect her glare with a pitiful look, but Angela's face was set, and he knew she was not going to let him go without at least some information. He sighed and sat down on her sofa, kicking his feet out to land on her coffee table. If he couldn't be emotionally comfortable, he was damn sure going to be comfortable physically.

"Charlie and I broke up."

The anger faded off Angela's face as she sat next to his feet on the table. "Oh. I'm so sorry, Booth. I really am."

"Thanks. But…it wasn't ever going to work."

"Why do you say that?"

"You know why, Angela. Everyone knows why. Might as well hire a skywriter in case we missed someone!"

"You're still in love with Bren."

Booth blew a breath out his pursed lips and let his head fall onto the sofa's back. "Why does that suddenly sound like a bad thing when you say it?"

"Well, at least I can say it."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I've said it! I laid myself out to her, Angela! She rejected me." He pulled his feet off the coffee table and sat up, incredibly agitated.

"Sweetie." Angela moved to sit next to him and laid a hand on his knee. "No. I mean the words. The actual sentence. Four words, four syllables. Have you ever said it to her face?"

Booth sat bolt upright and Angela watched, oddly fascinated, as the color drained out of his handsome face, making him suddenly look years older. "Jesus."

She let him sit in miserable silence for a moment before continuing. "You know Bren, Booth. You have to spell things out for her. Yes, you may have told her you wanted to be with her. You may have promised her a lifetime of happiness. But we're talking about a woman who didn't believe in love for most of her adult life. Everyone _she_ loved like that disappointed her, and when someone came along that she thought might have the potential break that streak, made her believe love was possible again; he offered her the moon and the stars…but forgot the most important thing. He forgot to tell her how head over heels in love he is with her."

"I thought she knew. I thought I said it. I did say it, Ang. In a million different ways."

"But not the one way she really needed you to. Most people, they say they love you and then they set out to prove it. You did it ass backwards, you proved it…and then blew the finish. She got her proof, she needs the hypothesis."

"It is my fault. I blew it. I rushed her."

"What? Booth…" Angela wondered how someone so insightful could also be so frigging blind sometimes. "Five years! You gave her five years, Booth! By any stretch of the imagination, by anyone's standards, even Brennan's…that is so not rushing her. You need to shake that idea out of your little piggy bank of guilt there, babe. That is all on her, not you." She closed her eyes for a moment and thought back to all those years ago, when her friends were just beginning to discover themselves, and who they could be together. She sometimes missed that beginning. "Booth, a long time ago, even before she really knew you completely, Brennan told me that you don't balk. And she was right. When push came to shove, you didn't balk. She did. _She did._"

"I told her that blamed her for my breakup with Charlie."

Angela blanched. "Damn."

"Yeah. I didn't mean it like it came out, but..."

"She isn't going to forgive that easily."

"But now that I've had time to think about it, I blame Cam. If she hadn't needed us...if we hadn't had to come back sooner..."

"That's not fair either, Booth. You know that. A month, seven months, a year...you would have come back for Cam no matter what. So quit throwing the blame where it doesn't belong and take some of that blame on you. You're a big boy, Booth. You're responsible for your own actions and decisions."

"Yeah, I know. I know." Booth stood up, no longer agitated but still thrumming with nervous energy. "I need to think. I can't just…"

"I know, Booth. I know. You just broke up with Charlie. Take some time, make up with Bren and try to get back to good with her. Then…"

"Then say those four syllables?"

Angela grinned. "Yeah."

Booth leaned over and kissed her head. "Thanks, Angela. You're a good friend."

"Yes, I am."

"And who knew you were so insightful?"

"Hey, I am always insightful. I still don't know where my flaky reputation came from. It's insulting."

"I haven't a clue." He walked to her door and disengaged the lock. "Oh, and Ang…I think its six syllables, not four."

"Maybe, if you loved Temperance."

Booth grinned, finally. "You're right. I love Bones."


	13. Chapter 13

_Give me strength or give me mercy…..don't let me lose heart. Amnesia ~Elvis Costello_

Booth let his finger hover over the 1 on his cell phone for a few moments, contemplating whether or not calling Bones at 2 AM was a good idea. Finally deciding that since she refused to take any of the other dozen or so calls he attempted since their big blow out two days before, it was ultimately her fault he had to resort to this. Decision made, he hit the button.

"Mmmm….what?" He knew he would wake her up, but he never expected to actually like the way she sounded…drowsy, disoriented and sleep-rumpled.

"Bones?"

There was no response from the other end aside from a deep sigh. Taking the fact that she hadn't immediately hung up on him as a good sign, he continued. "Bones. I'm sorry. I wasn't being fair to you."

He heard her shift in bed and closed his eyes to pray for a reprieve…and some control of his imagination. Another beat of time passed as Booth held his breath.

"Well, then I guess that makes us even."

_The next night…_

"H'lo?"

"Booth?" Came the whispered reply.

"Bones?" He sat up in bed, running his hand through messy hair. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. I just…I couldn't sleep. And I wanted to tell you…that I'm sorry things didn't work out with Charlotte."

A sigh. "Thanks, Bones."

"You're welcome."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything?"

"How sorry are you?"

A pause. "As sorry as you would be if the situation were reversed."

"Okay."

_Three days later…_

When the phone rang at 4:47 AM, Brennan was in the midst of a dream about a smoke-filled bar packed with faceless people while she danced, slowly and blissfully, in the midst of it all, surrounded by strong, comforting arms she had no right to be in. She blinked confusedly several times, trying to bring herself back from her safe, comforting fantasy world and back into harsh reality. When her fuzzy eyes cleared, she groped for her cell and hit random buttons until the ringing stopped and his voice cut through the darkness of her bedroom.

"Bo-"

"Booth? Is that you?"

"Booth? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah." A rustling came through the line, followed by the sound of a bottle breaking.

"Booth! Are you okay? What was that?"

"Sorry, Bones. Dropped my beer. I think it broke."

"Judging by the sounds, I'd say so. Are you wearing shoes?"

"Nope! But I am wearing those socks you got me for my birthday last year! See?"

"No, Booth…" Brennan laughed into the phone. "I can't see your socks. I'll take your word for it, though."

"Thanks, Bones! You're the best!"

"Goodnight, Booth. Go sleep it up."

"Off! Sleep it off!" He heard her chuckle again. "Are you doing that on purpose, Bones? 'Cause I'm not drunk! I'm…pleasantly buzzed. S'nice."

She recognized the sound of his large frame dropping onto his sofa. "Get some rest, Booth."

"'Kay, Bones. Love you. 'Night."

She sat listening to him breathe for almost an hour before hanging up.

_Four days later…_

"Bones?"

"Yes, Booth?"

"Were you sleeping?"

She sighed. Not in resignation or out of any sort of inconvenience, because while Booth was many things to her, an imposition was never one of them. No, she was simply trying to steel herself against the maddening tide of emotions that threatened to sweep her under, as they always did when he made these early morning calls. After they made up in their own way after their fight, things between her and Booth had returned to normal…or what passed as normal for them. They worked their cases, both burying their truths in layers of witty banter and avoidance. But their outward appearance only served to deflect the real issues…something they were both extremely adept at. And the only time they let those layers slip was during these desperate, honesty-laden phone calls…calls both had started to depend on like heroin addicts at a methadone clinic. 

"Bones? Did I wake you?"

"No. I was writing. I got an idea and I couldn't rest until I finished writing it down."

"Oh. Well, I'll let you get back to it, then."

"No! I mean…no, you don't have to do that. You obviously called for a reason…"

"It's not important, Bones. Really…"

"Obviously it's important to you if you're calling at…3 AM. What's wrong?"

He paused, uncomfortable. "I just…I was missing Parker."

"Didn't you see him this weekend?"

"Yeah. He left earlier this afternoon. Or, yesterday. Today is Monday, right?"

"Yes."

"Twelve more days until I see him again."

"I'm sorry, Booth. He loves you, you know. Very much. You're a good father."

"I know he does. I just wanted to hear his voice, but since he's sleeping…yours was the next best thing. Thanks, Bones."

"You're welcome, Booth. Goodnight."

"'Night."

_Two days later…_

"Bones?"

"Were you happier in Afghanistan than you are here?"

Booth sat up in bed, "What?"

"That picture, from the magazine just…You looked happy."

"I looked happy because…" He searched his mind for the right words, "Because over there I was just another nameless, uniformed soldier with a job to do. I was…free of…"

"Me?"

"I'll never be free of you, Bones."

"Is that a good thing?"

Booth smiled in the dark, "I think it is."

_Five days later…_

"I was wondering when you'd call again."

"Hello to you, too Bones."

"Well…I just…"

"I know, Bones. I'm sorry. I didn't call the last couple of days because I don't want you to think I only call you when I'm feeling depressed or needy."

"I would never think that, Booth. I understand."

"Do you?"

She thought for a moment, while he waited patiently on the other end. "Yes. I believe I do."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. And…I'm glad you call. Sometimes, it's the best part of my day."

His voice was a whisper. "Mine too."

_Two days later…_

"Hi, Booth."

"Hey Bones."

"Sleepy?"

"Nah, not with you on the phone. I can talk all night." She could literally hear his grin through the phone.

"That's a nice thing to say. You always know what to say. I almost never do."

"That's not true, Bones! You always say the right thing to cheer me up, or to make me understand something squinty, or to just make me smile." At her snort of disbelief, he insisted. "You do!"

"Really?" Her voice sounded suddenly like that of a little girl. He was completely charmed.

"Really, Temperance. You are my best friend for a reason. You keep me balanced, even when you're the reason I'm unbalanced."

"So do you, Booth."

"You think you'll ever call me Seeley?"

She laughed. "Nope."

_Three days later…_

"Booth, I do not understand this movie you gave me."

"What's not to understand, Bones? They're a married couple who solve crime."

"How are they able discern the important clues when it seems like they drink alcohol constantly?"

Booth laughed. "First of all, it's just a movie. Secondly, it's part of their charm. Like their amusing banter, it's a trademark."

"Oh, so this couple was well-known?"

"Bones! Everyone knows who Nick and Nora Charles are! My mom loved them; she even named her cat Asta."

"Well, my parents watched a lot of old movies but I don't remember this one."

"It's a classic, Bones. The whole series is. I thought you would enjoy it." He sounded a little bit hurt.

"Actually…I am enjoying it. Really, Booth. I especially like Nick, he's very debonair. A gentleman. You don't really see that much anymore."

"I thought you didn't like it when men treated you like a lady."

"I never said I didn't like that, I just don't like it when men try to do every single thing for you because they think you're the weaker sex. When you do those things, it's because you respect me. I know that, Booth."

"So why do you give me a hard time about it, then?"

"Because…it's fun. You get so exasperated. It amuses me."

"Gee, thanks."

"If it makes you feel any better, you remind me of Nick. You're both gentlemen and you make the world better by solving crimes."

"Yeah? That's nice, Bones. Thanks. And you definitely remind me of Nora."

"I do?"

"Sure. You're strong, witty and you also solve crime. Plus…smokin' hot."

"Thanks, Booth."

"Hey Bones…you know what else I have in common with Nick Charles?"

"No, what's that?"

"_'Lanky brunettes with wicked jaws.'_ Nick Charles and I share a type."

_One week and four days later…_

"Bones? Bones, please…are you there?"

"I'm here, Booth."

"You'd never lie to me, would you, Bones?"

A sigh. "No. You know that."

There was silence on the other end, and Brennan could almost hear Booth gathering his resolve.

"Then, is it me? Is there something wrong with me that prevents me from having a real, honest relationship with a woman? Do I try too hard? Not hard enough?"

Brennan sat up in bed and rubbed her forehead absently. "Booth…there's nothing wrong with you. I know that you're feeling inadequate right now, but please remember…you ended things with Charlotte. You. Not her. I believe that had she been given the opportunity, she would have stayed with you. You're a wonderful man, Booth."

Booth scoffed. "But not wonderful enough, right?"

The silence between them was heavy, but not uncomfortable. They had long ago learned the cadence of their conversations, and this was one of those times where he knew to wait while she gathered her thoughts. When she finally spoke, Booth was shocked by the vehemence in her voice.

"Booth….do you honestly think I don't know what your agreeing to stay in our partnership after that night cost you? How hard it was for you? Believe me…" A catch in her voice surprised him. "I know, Booth. I know how difficult honoring my request was, and I can never repay you for that kindness. I don't know if I can ever fix what I know I broke that night." He listened as she breathed heavily for a few moments. "But I do know I'd like to try."

Booth sat deathly still in the quiet of his bedroom, not quite ready to believe what his ears were hearing. After six years and God knew how many prayers of intercession, was Brennan actually willing to give their relationship a real shot? He had to know for sure, because he was absolutely sure of one thing. He wouldn't survive it if she wasn't completely serious.

"What are you saying, Bones?"

The vulnerability in his voice cut right through her. She took a deep breath and steeled her resolve. "What are you doing on Friday?"

The abrupt change in subject threw Booth off completely, and he fumbled for an answer. "Well…I don't have Parker, so nothing, I guess."

"Nothing at all?"

"No…why? Was I supposed to be doing something?" Booth was totally confused.

Brennan hid her disappointment with a chuckle. "No, I suppose not. I was just checking. Listen Booth, I am about to fall asleep here. Could we talk more later? I am really exhausted."

Still wondering what the hell was going on, Booth heard something in her voice that made him let her go without a fight. "Alright Bones, its okay. Thanks for listening. Get some sleep and I'll talk to you tomorrow. Okay?"

"Alright. Thanks Booth."

"Always, Bones. You know that."

"I do."

Booth heard the soft click of the call being disconnected, leaving him to go over the conversation again in his mind. After the third rewind, he knew he was missing something about Friday, but he was so tired and sad and confused, he just didn't have the energy to figure it out. Maybe tomorrow, things would be clearer.

B&B

The next morning, Booth went into work as usual, having put the conversation with Brennan out of his head for the time being. He knew from experience that if he purged the thought from his mind, a solution to his problem would eventually present itself, so he contented himself with the paperwork that seemed to have bred on his desk like rabbits.

Two hours into paperwork hell, Agent Stevens poked his head in and asked Booth if he wanted coffee.

"No, thanks Mike. I've already had three cups today. I'm going to be bouncing off the walls soon if I don't give it a rest."

"Alright." He turned to leave, and then seemed to remember something. "Oh…Booth? Did you get that outline done for the meeting on the 20th?"

Booth looked confused for a moment, trying to work out what Stevens was talking about. "Oh! Yeah, the meeting about the yearly conviction rate. Yes, I did get that done. Although, since Bones and I were gone until the last five months, it's down this year." He grinned at the other agent, both knowing what Booth had said was absolutely the truth.

"Yeah, yeah…whatever. Well, as long as you have that outline ready for Friday, we're good to go. See you later, Booth."

Booth opened his mouth to respond when the reality of Mike's words finally hit him and his head dropped with a thud to his desk.


	14. Chapter 14

It's not the way you look that touched my heart.  
It's not the way you kissed me, baby, that tears me apart.  
Many, many nights I tried. I sit alone at home and I cried over you.  
What can I do? I can't help myself, cause baby, it's you.

You should hear the things they say about you.  
They say you're never, ever, ever, ever gonna be true. Oh.  
I don't listen to a word they say. I'm gonna love you any old way.  
What can I do? It's true. I can't help myself, cause baby, it's you.

I don't listen to a word they say. I'm gonna love you any old way.  
What can I do? It's true. I can't help myself, cause baby, it's you.  
Baby, it's you.

_Baby, It's You ~Elvis Costello_

_Friday May 20th, 2011_

_Reflecting Pool, Washington Monument_

Temperance Brennan believed, from a very young age, that having expectations of another human being was irrational and dangerous. Inevitably you were either hurt or disappointed, and if there were ways to avoid that ever happening, Brennan did her best to make sure she found them. Then she thought that her hypothesis was proven when, after being intrigued by the tall, dark, gorgeous FBI agent who interrupted her lecture at American University, she'd been disappointed again by what she perceived as his betrayal. Of course, almost six years and countless examples of friendship and trust later, she had taken the one relationship she thought she could trust above all others and ground it into dust under her heel. At the time, she thought she was doing the rational thing. She was too damaged; she was never going to feel the freeing, comforting, _endless_ emotion that being in love with another person can give you without hurting him irreparably. She was doing the _right _thing.

And nothing irritated Temperance Brennan more than being proven wrong.

So she should have been comfortable with her decision to join the dig in Indonesia, to get some perspective, to get away from everything that seemed to be getting to close to breaking her. To get away from _him_. But after the first week, when all she did was wonder and worry about what he was doing, she knew she might have just made the biggest mistake of her life. Which only served to make her angry.

So she threw herself into the work, tolerating the nagging feeling that she was missing something and pushing it effectively to the back of her mind, regaining her balance and ability to compartmentalize to the point that she was beginning to feel like her old self again.

Then, three months into the dig, there was an uprising on the island of Ambon, the main island and where their group was based when not enmeshed in their research right next to it on Buru Island. Their research team was shuttled off to safety on Mortai, where they were protected by UN peacekeeping forces, some of which included American soldiers…US Army Rangers. Brennan had to smile when she recalled how somber and focused the soldiers were during their protection rotations. They took their jobs very seriously and she was instantly reminded of her partner…the main reason she had fled to Indonesia in the first place. Her careful and systematic rebuilding of her walls was obliterated in one fell swoop as she watched the soldiers on their off-time playing football and blowing off steam. They were all so much like what she imagined Booth was like when he was first in the military, it literally made her heart ache.

After they were able to return to the site on Buru, Brennan found several emails from Booth waiting for her. The first few were the usual banter, but as they progressed he began to sound more and more worried for her. She felt terrible for making him panic, but they hadn't had time to do anything but pack a small bag before being removed from the island for their own safety. After drafting a quick email, explaining what had happened and apologizing profusely, she had settled in her tent for the night, thoughts centered solely on her partner.

Not long into her reflections, Daisy Wick poked her head into Brennan's tent, asking to speak with her. Brennan had managed to not only tolerate the young woman during their long working days, but had actually begun to forge a friendship with her. Despite the manic way she usually acted, Daisy was an intelligent, kind, caring woman and Brennan found herself genuinely liking her. So when Daisy began to verbally work through her situation with Dr. Sweets, Brennan found herself spilling her guts as well about Booth. Aside from Angela, Daisy was the only other person Brennan had told about the events of that night in front of the Hoover after the meeting with Sweets, and the young woman turned out to be a sympathetic and insightful audience.

With Daisy's help, Brennan realized that, while she had turned down Booth's romantic overture because she was worried her own lack of emotional maturity would end up eventually hurting Booth, her refusal itself had done that damage all on its own. And once she knew the whole story, Daisy assured Brennan that the reason Booth had insisted he needed to move on so quickly was to protect himself from not only more heartbreak, but from Brennan's pity as well. It was not unlike Brennan's own well-honed emotional wall-building, designed to mask his real emotional pain. Brennan was surprised to learn something new about Booth she never even considered….he compartmentalized almost as well as she did.

After Daisy left her tent that night, Brennan had a hard time falling asleep. She did what she did best, analyzed her entire relationship with Booth as though it were a puzzle she needed to solve, picking apart each moment, each word spoken, until she could only come to one conclusion.

Somewhere along the way, without her even being consciously aware of it, she had fallen in love with Booth.

Of course, the realization completely knocked her off balance. She struggled with what her feelings could mean and whether she would even be able to deal with them, all the while continuing to have late night conversations with Daisy and trying to remain friendly but neutral in her emails to Booth. That last feat became harder when he emailed her to tell her about Charlotte, but she managed to rally quite spectacularly.

The only time she faltered was after Caroline had called the team back to DC five months early to help Cam with a high-profile case. Brennan had been there to pick Booth up at the airport, and when he stepped out of the breezeway and turned to look at her, every little feeling she had been desperately trying to bottle up came rushing back, and she couldn't stop herself from running to him and hugging him tightly. Booth had seemed a little surprised at first, but managed to hug her back just as hard, goofy, Boothy grin in place.

Booth didn't bring up the topic of Charlotte the first week they were home, but they had been completely immersed in the case that brought them home and they were very busy. When, as they were having drinks after wrapping the case, he finally mentioned her, Brennan was able to squelch her first urge to ask too much and simply let him talk. That acceptance of his situation might have paved the way for Booth to welcome Charlotte into his life when she showed up in DC a week later, but in the long run Brennan found that she had no regrets. She could only hope that Booth didn't have any either. His relationship with Charlotte seemed to have changed him, in a good way. He seemed more settled and happy and just…satisfied. Right after the breakup she worried for him, but except for their argument in front of Founding Fathers, the two of them were closer than ever…and she secretly wished she could thank Charlotte for her part in that.

Sighing to herself and almost smiling over her uncharacteristically maudlin thoughts, Brennan checked her watch and realized that it was almost half an hour past the time she and Booth had agreed to meet. She stood and started towards the coffee cart, determined to not be hurt by Booth's non-appearance. As she ordered another coffee to take back with her to the lab, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she knew…he was there.

.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter One: We didn't really get along…

Chapter Two: I think I fell in love with you…

You said you'd stand by me in the middle of Chapter Three…

But you were up to your old tricks in Chapters Four, Five and Six

~Elvis Costello, _Everyday I Write The Book_

After almost seven years, countless unsaid words, thousands of moments, millions of furtive glances and unbidden touches…she knew when she was in his presence like she knew the bones of the human body. Brennan breathed his name and closed her eyes before turning around towards their bench. She didn't have to look...she knew he was there. As always.

"Booth."

Booth had watched from behind the bench as Brennan spoke to the coffee cart vendor. As he moved to sit down and wait, he realized that what he had first thought was irritation at his lateness was actually disappointment. In fact, if he didn't know any better he could have sworn that she looked heartbroken.

Correction: _heart crushed_.

She opened her eyes and took him in, head-to-toe, from his regulation FBI suit to his not-so-FBI-regulation accessories. He sat casually, ankle resting on knee, staring at her as if he'd never seen her before. A fleeting thought crossed her mind that it was possible she had changed enough that he might not know her as well as he thought anymore, but it passed as she raised her head to look him in the eyes.

She finally returned his stare, all the tension he saw in her limbs just before visibly slipping away, only to be replaced by the last thing he expected to see after everything that had happened since they returned from their respective travels.

She started crying.

Booth reached her in what seemed like two strides and pulled her into his arms, rocking her back and forth and whispering calming words in her ear. Brennan clutched him to her tightly, trying to get closer than close, wanting to feel him against every part of her, to know that not only was he there, with her…but that he was there, _with her_.

Finally getting control of herself, Brennan tilted her head back to look at Booth's worried expression. "I thought you'd forgotten."

Booth nodded and moved them towards the bench, ignoring the stares they were getting after her emotional display and settling her next to him on the worn wood. "To be honest, Bones…I did forget." He winced at the hurt that flashed across her eyes and raised his hand in protest. "I didn't forget we were supposed to meet! I swear, Bones. I just lost track of the time. I'm sorry. It's no excuse, but I've been trying to get myself…and us, back to some semblance of normal and I…"

She knew what he meant. "When you're busy contemplating your place in the world, the passage of time seems to become insignificant."

"Exactly." Booth released a long breath and smiled. "No one understands me like you do."

"Right back atcha, Booth." She grinned…that sweet damn smile, the one that tilted his whole world on its axis, and he was suddenly, maddeningly, right back where he was a year ago. Helpless for her.

He stood and offered her his hand. "Walk with me, Bones?"

She took his hand and stood. "I'd love to."

B&B

They walked for hours, just talking and laughing and enjoying each other's company. They passed historically significant monuments without a sideways glance, both completely wrapped up in the other and the words they were saying. Booth told Brennan everything about his time in Afghanistan, and Brennan revealed Daisy's part in helping her find her way.

"Remind me to buy her a thank-you bouquet of Valium." Booth joked.

"Be nice, Booth. She really is a wonderful woman." She couldn't quite control the grin that crossed her face, however. She had missed this…their closeness and easy familiarity…so much, and now with this still unacknowledged new layer to their partnership, she realized that she hadn't felt this perfectly content in a very long time.

"I'll have to take your word on that, Bones. Daisy and I…we're not going to be close friends anytime soon."

"I understand. She is…difficult."

"Understatement of the century there, Bones."

She laughed, and held his arm tighter. When he suddenly stopped, she realized that they were back where they started, at the reflecting pool. Almost without words, they agreed take their separate vehicles and meet back at her apartment.

Brennan reached the apartment before Booth, and took the opportunity to run to her bathroom to clean her face and freshen up, suddenly and inexplicably nervous. Ten minutes later, Booth knocked at the door, and then let himself in, holding bags filled with Thai food.

She thanked him for thinking of stopping for food, once again reminded of his innate goodness and caring, even with something as seemingly insignificant as making sure she ate. They sat down at her table to eat, talking a little and sharing glances that held volumes of meaning.

After cleaning up the remnants of the meal, Brennan excused herself to get out of her work clothing and change into something more comfortable. While she was gone, Booth wandered around her apartment, reacquainting himself with her belongings…just realizing that he hadn't been here since they'd left the year before.

Standing in front of her stereo and collection of CD's, he heard Brennan coming back down the hallway. "Hey Bones, you've got one of my favorite Elvis Costello albums ever! I never would have pegged you for an Elvis fan!" He flipped the CD over to read the song list, missing her uncomfortable glance at her own CD's as he dug back into the collection.

"In fact…wow, Bones! Led Zeppelin, Springsteen, Creedence, Ramones, The Kinks…I love all of these!"

"I know. I-" She turned away and walked towards the kitchen, looking for something and not knowing what.

He finally realized she was nervous, and set the CD's down to go to her. "What's wrong, Bones? C'mon…I know something is up, you can tell me anything."

Somehow knowing how important what she was about to reveal was, she nodded and led him back to the stereo. "I…about two years ago, I started collecting CD's that I'd seen in your own collection. Bands and singers you seemed to like."

"Okay. That's kind of awesome, Bones. But…why, exactly?" He stood next to her and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest, waiting patiently as she seemed to struggle with her answer.

"At first, I didn't really understand my own motivation. All I knew was that you liked them, so I wanted to know them. I know it sounds silly, but I thought maybe I could-" She huffed and shook her head at what she perceived was her own ridiculousness. Booth's answering glance was nothing but supportive, so she continued. "I thought that it would help me to know you even better."

In that one moment, all he could hear running through his head was his own heartbeat going double-time. She looked at him with something close to terror on her face, as if what she'd said was somehow wrong…and he was lost.

"Temperance Brennan…" Booth closed his eyes and fisted his hands, forcing back the tears that threatened. "God, you're amazing."

"What?" She squeaked. The tears that sprang to his eyes did nothing but confuse her.

"Oh, Bones. Do you know what you've done? You've…no one has ever…ah, I'm not saying this right!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her close. Looking down into her wide eyes, he tried to explain his reaction. "Look, I've always believed that the kind of music you listen to says a lot about who you are. Check out someone's iPod, see into their soul. Their wants, what they need, what makes them happy…you know what I mean?"

"I think so..."

"Yeah. And the fact that you sought that out? I've never had anyone care so much about me, about who I am…ever. I've never had anyone who wanted to know every little thing about me so much that they snooped into my music and…"

"It wasn't snooping!" She protested.

"Yeah, it was. And I love you for it." He stepped back a bit and held one of her hands loosely. "Did you hear that? I love you, Bones. I. Love. You."

Time stopped. She stared into his face, into his eyes, wanting to commit this moment to memory for the rest of her life. The moment that she realized that everything she ever thought she didn't deserve, that she thought she was too late to have…was standing right in front of her, wrapped up in a six foot, one hundred and ninety pound man who…who loved her. Her breath caught in her throat as her hands flew to her cheeks, catching the tears that flowed down them.

He wanted to wait for her to say something…anything, but she just stood there smiling, tears running down her face, so Booth took the initiative. He grabbed her hand from her face and pulled her out of the room, dragging her down the hallway to her bedroom. He kicked the door open and stepped in, finally slowing down to look around for a moment. Brennan didn't stop in time, her natural momentum bringing her slamming into his back with an 'oof'.

"Booth…" She gasped as he turned to her, eyes dark and dangerous and…determined. "What are we doing?" She watched, mesmerized, as he yanked off his tie and began to unbutton his shirt.

"C'mon, Bones…take your clothes off!"

"What? Now?"

"Yes, now! Come on…get naked!"

"Booth…"

"No!" He pulled her over to the bed, stopping to kick off his shoes, one of which went flying across in room in his enthusiasm. "No more waiting, no more excuses! Seven years, Bones! We've been heading towards this for seven years and dammit, we're doing this!"

Brennan pulled herself out of her shock, a sly grin crossing her face as Booth stripped down to his Spiderman boxers then stood looking at her, hands on his hips. "But…what about what you said?" Her voice dropped a few octaves in a fair impersonation of him. "You make love gently, Bones…gently! Making love is like breaking the laws of physics…."

Booth rolled his eyes. "What, do you write everything I say down? You said you preferred passionate and uninhibited! We'll do it your way, but this is happening tonight! So c'mon, Bones! Take your clothes off and let's get makin' with the love!"

Brennan grinned, and pulled her shirt over her head.

B&B

It was 3 AM and Booth was exhausted, yet wide awake. He lay on his back, one arm under his head, the other resting across his stomach, staring at the ceiling with a small smile. Inhaling deeply, he thought back to the last few hours. Once Brennan had finally caught up with his intentions, she had been just as enthusiastic as he was in their lovemaking. Unsurprisingly, she preferred to be on top…something he absolutely didn't have a problem with. In his dirtier fantasies, he had pictured her riding him, perfect breasts swaying as she hovered over him, taking her own pleasure from his body…but the reality was so much more than he could have ever imagined. That first time had been just what she said she liked…hot and sexy and completely uninhibited and he wouldn't have changed it for the world. It was, far and away, the best first time he'd ever had with a woman…and since it was his last first time he was grateful. The second time, they went at a more leisurely pace, exploring each other's bodies and learning what made the other gasp, or moan, or beg. And it was still the best first time he'd ever had. And the third time…he grinned wider, amazed at himself by his own stamina. He knew Brennan had been impressed; she'd even thanked Booth's God a few times.

He glanced over at where Brennan lay next to him, her long, pale, naked back facing him. He wanted to run his hands down her soft skin, but he knew she was just as tired as he was and they had had a really intense day. As he watched, her shoulder moved slightly and she was turning to face him, eyes sleepy and half-closed.

"Booth? What are you doing?" She moved to rest her head against his shoulder, absently running her fingers down his chest.

"Just thinking, Bones."

She smiled. "Thinking, huh? I thought that was my job."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I'm the brains, and you're the heart."

"The perfect combination."

"Yes."

Booth pulled her closer, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Well, I just figured…since you've been showing more and more of that big heart of yours lately, maybe I should pick up the slack on the brains part."

"Mmmm. That's an excellent idea." She slid up and pulled his head down, kissing him softly on the lips. "You keep thinking, and I'll keep sleeping. I love you, Booth." With that, she rolled over and snuggled back under the covers, falling back to sleep almost immediately.

Booth lay in shock for a moment, the words that Brennan had just whispered echoing through his head. She had told him she loved him as if she were asking him to pass the salt across the dinner table. He should have known…no grand gestures or fireworks or orchestral overtures were ever going to accompany a declaration of love from Temperance Brennan. It wasn't earth-shattering, it wasn't monumental, and it wasn't ground-breaking. It was, quite simply, pure Bones.

And it was perfect.

Epilogue to follow…..

**A/N:As a point of reference, the reason the song _Everyday I Write The Book_ was used for this chapter specifically (and really, all the Elvis Costello quotes in general) is because every time I (NatesMama) hear that song I think of Booth and Brennan's relationship...because it is so _them_. And I think that may be one of the first things that Smurfs and I ever agreed on. And luckily, Elvis wrote quite a few songs referencing romantic angst so we didn't have any trouble finding quotes for each chapter.**


	16. Chapter 16

_~ Epilogue ~_

_Two years later…_

Cam poked her head into Brennan's office, "Change of plans, you two."

Booth was standing behind Brennan, reading a file on her desk over her shoulder. He looked up hopefully, "Did they cancel the visit?"

"The Vice President isn't coming but he sent someone in his place." Cam inhaled deeply and looked at her feet, fighting off a wicked grin.

"Who?" Brennan asked.

"Oh, just the Speaker of the House and his wife." Cam turned on her heel and called over her back, "Come on, they're here and they pay the bills."

Brennan spun her chair around, "What's it been, almost three years?"

Booth nodded slowly, "Just about."

"Well, _I_ think it'll be fun." She pushed her chair back and slowly stood.

Booth held his hands out and shrugged, "Why on earth would you think that?"

She arched a brow and grinned before heading out the door.

He shook his head and called out, "That's not an answer, Bones. That's more like a _non_-answer."

Booth slowly made his way out of her office. After taking a visual inventory of the guests, a few elected officials and photographers, Booth bounded up the platform just as Cam finished introducing Brennan to the group.

Speaker Woods shook her hand with both of his, "It's an honor, Dr. Brennan-Booth. The Jeffersonian, and by extension the country, is fortunate to have individuals like you, committed to such self-less pursuits. And beyond that, I am a huge fan of your novels. " He glanced down at her stomach and smiled, "Congratulations on your impending motherhood, as well! Could I ask when this little one is due to make their appearance?"

Brennan smiled and ran a proud, yet protective hand over her growing bump, "Of course, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have two months to go…July 18th."

Cam hastily gestured to Booth to join her front and center, "Speaker Woods, this is Dr. Brennan-Booth's husband and former partner, Assistant Deputy Director Seeley Booth. He has been instrumental in cultivating the unique and effective working relationship between the Jeffersonian and the FBI over the last decade. Which as you know, has now become the model that all other federal agencies strive to emulate."

Booth stepped forward and firmly shook Speaker Clayton Woods' hand, "All that means is that I was smart enough to realize that we should be quiet when the _really_ smart people talk. It's nice to meet you, sir."

'Seeley Booth…" The Congressman smiled, "I think you know my wife."

"Yes, I do sir." Even though he couldn't see them, he could feel the smirks forming on Cam and Brennan's mouths behind his back. He cleared his throat, "How is Charlotte?"

Clayton looked at his watch and grinned, "Actually, Charlie's late. She should be here shortly." He faced Cam, "We can go ahead and start the tour. I don't want to keep you from any important work."

As Cam and Brennan lead the group down a corridor, Clayton hung back and approached Booth, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. I was caught a little off guard."

Booth nodded, "It happens to the best of us."

Clayton offered his hand again, "Best of luck with the little one."

"Thank you, sir." When the group was out of earshot, Booth exhaled deeply - there was awkward and then there was _that_.

He headed back to Brennan's office to make a call, when he was finish he headed up the steps to the lounge for coffee before the tour group returned.

When he hit the landing he wasn't surprised to see Charlotte leaning against the railing studying her phone's display.

"I prefer the ripped jeans to the suit but that's just me."

Charlotte started to smile before she even looked up, "I wondered if you'd be here."

"Funny, I wasn't given the same notice."

"This wasn't scheduled until this morning, I had no warning either. Clay asked me to come - it's getting to be that time. You know, the road to the White House is paved with photo ops."

Booth stifled a snort, "How does a woman who used to pride herself on being able to fit everything she owned into a canvas duffel end up married to a career politician?"

Ignoring the hypothetical tone in his voice, Charlotte explained, "Awhile back I did a series of video essays for CNN from various points in Iraq. Clay contacted my boss and said he needed to speak with me. The higher-ups thought I was getting a sweet exclusive but all he did was ask me out to dinner. And that's all she wrote…"

Booth nodded and slowly asked, "You married a guy who…ordered you off the TV like a… like a ShamWow?"

She laughed faintly, "I hadn't thought of it that way but essentially, yes."

They stood side by side in silence watching the officials and lab rats mingle down below until Booth muttered, "That's just rude, Charlie."

"What?"

"You're not even gonna fake an interest in what I've been doing? I thought you loved a good story?"

"I know your story, Seeley._ Everyone_ knows your story by now. And I probably would have gotten to the end quicker than most if you didn't hide and mask everything so well. There's a psychological term for that…"

Before Charlotte even had the chance to remember what she had forgotten, Booth mumbled, "Compartmentalize?"

She swatted him on the arm, "That's it! You are _the_ master – you should teach a course or something."

"So, I've been told."

Charlotte saw the very pregnant Brennan talking with Clayton and Congressman Mitchell. She leaned toward Booth, "You should have just told me that it wasn't me but it was _her _when you ended things. You would've saved me a lot of time."

"How would that have helped? I-I thought that…"

Charlotte leaned on the railing, "For about a month after, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the hell-"

"Was wrong with you?" Booth glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"Exactly." She looked at him, surprised he understood. "How'd you know?"

He mimicked her stance, resting his forearms on the railing and sighed, "I just know, Charlie."

"Let's face it there are much, much worse women in the world to be the runner-up to than Dr. Temperance Brennan or Brennan-Booth, sorry. I'm ok with it. _More_ than ok."

"I mean, you ended up with the guy second in line to run the free world so…."

She smiled and nodded, "Definitely better than good."

"Definitely…" He rubbed his jaw and dropped his voice an octave, "I meant to get in touch with you after I read your Pulitzer acceptance but-"

Charlie placed a hand on his forearm, cutting him off, "I'm glad you didn't."

"You are?"

"More than you know." She squeezed his arm and then made her way toward the steps to rejoin the group.

"Why?" He had always thought he'd handled things with Charlotte as well as he could have but he had been wrong before.

"Because it's been my experience that, in general, men only look up their exes when their current situation isn't working out." Before she descended the stairs, she turned and smiled with a warmth and sincerity that surprised him, "And following that train of thought…. I hope I never hear from you ever again, Seeley Booth."

Booth chuckled under his breath and watched her approach Brennan on the forensic platform, away from the others. With their backs facing him, he was left to only imagine what was being said and he suspected he'd never be told. They spoke in hushed tones but he gathered from the light laughter and synchronized head bobbing that they were in vehement agreement about something.

Charlotte looked back and pointed up to where Booth stood, still leaning over the railing. "Seeley's very happy."

Brennan looked up at her husband quickly and caught a grin from him, the one that she knew was only for her, and then back to Charlotte, "I hope he is… I try."

"That's just the thing..." Charlotte gently bumped her shoulder against Brennan's before leaving, "You never had to try."

* * *

**Thanks for reading and all of the amazing feedback and insights!**

**We've already started plotting and planning the sequel to this.**

**Look for _State of Love and Trust_ in the next few weeks…**

**~ NatesMama & Smurfs ~**


End file.
